In the most important category, which is called "Public Service" for a reason, the prize was split in order to honor both the Washington Post and the Guardian. The latter is a British newspaper and therefore cannot actually receive a Pulitzer Prize. The jury found a way out and, most unusually, honored only one foreign offshoot, namely the US edition of the "Guardian". The newspaper had "helped to spark the debate about state surveillance and the contradiction between security and privacy with its contentious reporting". In other words, it made a scandal public.
The "Washington Post", which had also published the papers of whistleblower Edward Snowden, gave the same reasoning in some parts. It added that the flagship paper from the capital received the award because its "authoritative and insightful reports helped the public understand the bigger picture" in "exposing the National Security Agency's far-reaching surveillance".
Congratulations from Snowden
Edward Snowden congratulated the journalists and thanked them. He wrote on the website of the US Freedom of the Press Foundation that the awards are a reminder that a free press can achieve what no individual can do alone. "My efforts would have been meaningless without the dedication, commitment and skill of these newspapers."
The Pulitzer Prizes in the other categories almost disappear a little behind the main awards. The heart of the Pulitzer Prize awards are honors for journalists who nobody knows, who work for papers that have hardly been heard of. But who persistently point out abuses despite the headwind. Journalist Chris Hamby, for example, was honored for uncovering a cartel of lawyers and doctors who deprived sick miners of their compensation.
Two reporters from the "Tampa Bay Times" in Florida showed the poor conditions in which homeless people live in housing projects. "The Gazette" from Colorado Springs highlighted the problems faced by those returning from war when they were dismissed for a minor offense. And the Boston Globe was honored for its "in-depth and sensitive coverage" of the marathon bombing a year ago.
Prizes for literature and music
Donna Tartt ("The Secret History") received the main prize in literature for her novel "The Goldfinch". It describes a boy's struggle after his mother dies in a bomb attack. In the process, the 13-year-old uncovers a secret. According to the jury, the novel is "beautifully written" and the characters are "excellently designed".
For the committee, the best historical work was "The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832" by Alan Taylor about slavery in the state of Virginia, the home of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. The best biography was written by Megan Marshall with "Margaret Fuller: A New American Life" about the writer.
Indian-born Vijay Seshadri was honored with the prize for poetry for "3 Sections", while the prize for music went to John Luther Adams for his orchestral work "Become Ocean".
The Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded since 1917 and are considered the world's most important award for journalists. (SDA)
