The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded Monday to a series of news organizations for investigations that revealed the tragic toll of the United States’ air war in the Middle East, uncovered the dangers of a lead smelter in Tampa, and revealed the full picture of the Jan. 6 US Capitol riots.
The New York Times won the most Pulitzer Prizes of any media this year, including in the categories of international reporting, national reporting and criticism. A Times reporter, Andrea Elliott, also won the non-fiction book award.
The Washington Post won the public service category, considered the most prestigious of the awards, for “The Attack,” a comprehensive chronological examination of what led up to the Capitol siege and what happened during the riots and its aftermath. The Pulitzer Awards are presented annually by Columbia University for excellence in journalism, books, music, and drama.
The Times staff won in the international category for a comprehensive account of the failures of the US air war in the Middle East, including the tragic toll on civilians. The Times drew on a wealth of Pentagon documents to show how the breakdowns in military intelligence contrasted with the picture of war presented by the United States.
An investigation by The Times staff into deadly police encounters was recognized for national coverage. The reporters searched court documents, prosecutor’s statements and audio and video recordings to find out why many police checks escalate into deadly encounters and how police sometimes get cover after deaths in custody.
Salamishah Tillet, a contributing critic for The Times, won the critique category for her writing about race in popular culture that explored black experiences, including how the art inspired by George Floyd’s murder resonated with her.
Another Times reporter, Andrea Elliott, won the Pulitzer Prize in the general nonfiction category for her book “Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City,” published by Random House and part of a series from 2013 she made in The Keer.
During the tenure of Dean Baquet, its editor-in-chief, The Times has won 22 Pulitzer Prizes, the highest number of any top editor in decades. Mr Baquet will resign in June and will be succeeded by Joseph Kahn, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief.
The Miami Herald staff won for breaking news stories for their coverage of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo tower in the city of Surfside, killing nearly 100 people.
Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of The Tampa Bay Times received the award for investigative reporting for “Poisoned,” detailing the dangers of a lead smelter in Tampa, Florida, and the dire consequences it had for workers.
Madison Hopkins of the Better Government Association, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Chicago, and Cecilia Reyes of the Chicago Tribune won for local coverage after their long-standing reporting project revealed Chicago officials had been warned about safety issues in buildings where tenants were killed by fires.
The staff of Quanta Magazine, a science and math publication, including reporter Natalie Wolchover, received the explanatory reporting award for its coverage of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic won the Feature Writing Award for her article about a family struggling with loss in the 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The Kansas City Star columnist Melinda Henneberger received the award for commentary for her work demanding justice for the alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of raping and exploiting black women.
For the editorial writing category, the Houston Chronicle’s Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco were awarded for “The Big Lie,” a voter suppression series that examined voter fraud claims.
The Pulitzer Prizes of 2022
Insider, the website formerly known as Business Insider, won its first Pulitzer Prize. Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey won the award for illustrated coverage and commentary for using comics to tell the story of China’s oppression of the Uyghur ethnic minority.
The breaking news photography award was jointly awarded to Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times, for his work in Afghanistan, and Getty Images contributors for their images of the January 6 uprising. The Feature Photo Award went to Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, Amit Dave and Reuters’ Danish Siddiqui for their coverage of the toll of the pandemic in India.
The award for audio reporting, a category introduced in 2020, was awarded to the staff of Futuro Media and PRX for their podcast “Suave”, which follows the life of a man after being released from prison after more than 30 years.
The Pulitzer administration also announced a special award given to journalists from Ukraine for their coverage of the Russian invasion and President Vladimir V. Putin’s attempts to mislead the public about its reality.
“These are challenging and dangerous days for journalists around the world,” John Daniszewski, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize board, said in a livestream Monday, citing the 12 journalists who died in the war against Ukraine and eight Mexican journalists. they were killed this year.
He said the threat to independent journalism meant it was “essential that journalists at all levels continue to do the difficult and sometimes courageous work of bringing true and revealing stories to the public.”
The fiction award was given to “The Netanyahus,” by Joshua Cohen, who is visiting a college campus by the father of Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s former prime minister.
The history prize was awarded jointly to two books. “Covered With Night”, by Nicole Eustace, looks at the murder of a Native American man by two white fur traders in 1772 and its impact on the definition of justice. “Cuba: An American History”, by Ada Ferrer, describes the evolution of the country and its relationship with the United States.
The biography award went to “Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South,” by Winfred Rembert, as told to Erin I. Kelly. Mr. Rembert, the late black artist, remembers his life in rural Georgia and survived a lynching attempt to turn to art when he was in his 50s.
Diane Seuss’ Frank: Sonnets, a collection of more than 100 sonnets, won the poetry category. James Ijames’ ‘Fat Ham’, who places Shakespearean classic ‘Hamlet’ on a Southern barbecue, took the prize for drama. ‘Voiceless Mass’, a composition by Raven Chacon for organ and ensemble, won in the music category.
