104th Pulitzer Prizes announced, 3 Indians among winners

Besides a certificate, the prizes carry a cash award of $15,000, except the public service category for which a gold medal is awarded. The Pulitzer Prizes in journalism were first awarded in 1917 and are considered the field's most prestigious honour in the US.

Hyderabad: Columbia University on Monday announced Pulitzer Prizes in 15 Journalism and seven Book, Drama and Music categories. The prestigious prize was awarded to three Indian photographers, Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin in the feature photography category for their pictures made during India’s clampdown on Kashmir.

The Pulitzer Prizes in journalism were first awarded in 1917 and are considered the field's most prestigious honour in the US.

The 2020 Prize winners are:

Journalism

Breaking News Reporting

Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.

For its rapid coverage of hundreds of last-minute pardons by Kentucky’s governor, showing how the process was marked by opacity, racial disparities and violations of legal norms. (Moved by the jury from Local Reporting, where it was originally entered.)

Investigative Reporting

Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

For an exposé of New York City’s taxi industry that showed how lenders profited from predatory loans that shattered the lives of vulnerable drivers, reporting that ultimately led to state and federal investigations and sweeping reforms.

Explanatory Reporting

Staff of The Washington Post

For a groundbreaking series that showed with scientific clarity the dire effects of extreme temperatures on the planet.

Local Reporting

Staff of The Baltimore Sun

For illuminating, impactful reporting on a lucrative, undisclosed financial relationship between the city’s mayor and the public hospital system she helped to oversee.

National Reporting

T Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica

For their investigation into America’s 7th Fleet after a series of deadly naval accidents in the Pacific.

Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times

For groundbreaking stories that exposed design flaws in the Boeing 737 MAX that led to two deadly crashes and revealed failures in government oversight.

International Reporting

Staff of The New York Times

For a set of enthralling stories, reported at great risk, exposing the predations of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Feature Writing

Ben Taub of The New Yorker

For a devastating account of a man who was kidnapped, tortured and deprived of his liberty for more than a decade at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, blending on-the-ground reporting and lyrical prose to offer a nuanced perspective on America's wider war on terror. (Moved into contention by the Board.)

Commentary

Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times

For a sweeping, deeply reported and personal essay for the ground-breaking 1619 Project, which seeks to place the enslavement of Africans at the center of America’s story, prompting public conversation about the nation’s founding and evolution.

Criticism

Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times

For work demonstrating extraordinary community service by a critic, applying his expertise and enterprise to critique a proposed overhaul of the L.A. County Museum of Art and its effect on the institution’s mission.

Editorial Writing

Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald Press

For editorials that exposed how pre-trial inmates died horrific deaths in a small Texas county jail—reflecting a rising trend across the state—and courageously took on the local sheriff and judicial establishment, which tried to cover up these needless tragedies.

Editorial Cartooning

Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker

For work that skewers the personalities and policies emanating from the Trump White House with deceptively sweet watercolor style and seemingly gentle caricatures. (Moved into contention by the Board.)

Breaking News Photography

Photography Staff of Reuters

For wide-ranging and illuminating photographs of Hong Kong as citizens protested infringement of their civil liberties and defended the region’s autonomy by the Chinese government.

Feature Photography

Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of Associated Press

For striking images of life in the contested territory of Kashmir as India revoked its independence, executed through a communications blackout.

Audio Reporting

Staff of This American Life with Molly O'Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News

For “The Out Crowd,” revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Public Service

Anchorage Daily News with contributions from ProPublica

For a riveting series that revealed a third of Alaska’s villages had no police protection, took authorities to task for decades of neglect, and spurred an influx of money and legislative changes.