Newspapers Celebrate Pulitzer Victory

By: E&P Staff Celebrations broke out in newsrooms across the country Monday afternoon after the 2004 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced from Columbia University in New York. The most joyous celebrations must be in Los Angeles, where the Times won five of journalism's most prestigious prizes: breaking news reporting, national reporting, criticism, editorial writing, and feature photography.

As news of the awards reached the Los Angeles newsroom, staff members broke into cheers and applause, according to The Associated Press. "My feeling is this reflects the depth of talent at this paper and the depth of dedication across all departments," Times editor John S. Carroll told the staff.

"Overall people are very gratified that their work has been so well received," said Dan Neil, auto critic for the Times, who received the Criticism Pulitzer. "The L.A. Times has done some incredible work this year," he told E&P.

In Toledo, Ohio, The Blade's executive editor, Ron Royhab, was ecstatic about the newspaper's first Pulitzer -- awarded in the investigative category for a series on atrocities committed by Tiger Force, an elite U.S. Army platoon, during the Vietnam War. "We felt that we had a really solid piece of journalism that was worthy of serious consideration," he said. "We certainly didn't know if we were going to win or not. But I'm delighted that we won."

The Blade got the news of their win from a student at Columbia who plans to work for the paper. Royhab said the call came shortly after 3 o'clock.

"Everybody is so excited," Royhab said. "People from all departments came up into the newsroom [to hear the announcements]. ... We went and got a cake in the newsroom and there will be some spontaneous celebrating tonight." He added that over 200 people (about one-third of the entire company's employees) were in the newsroom at the announcement.

At The Wall Street Journal, the only newspaper besides the L.A. Times to win more than one award, Daniel Golden took the beat reporting prize for his series of nine stories on affirmative action and white applicants. "Essentially, they were stories covering preferences such as family legacy that tend to help affluent, white applicants in college admissions," Golden told E&P Monday afternoon.

"While people usually criticize affirmative action as benefiting strictly minorities, there are other preferences that usually benefit white applicants that are not criticized," he said. "Some have given the stories credit, saying they may have influenced the Supreme Court to uphold affirmative action in the University of Michigan Law School case."

The Journal's other Pulitzer came in the explanatory reporting category, for the work of Kevin Helliker and Thomas M. Burton, who reported on aneurysms. "I found out [about the prize] at the strike of three o'clock when a messenger walked in with a box of champagne and a note from the managing editor," said Helliker, who's based in Chicago. "I thought it was a hoax at first, and found out officially when the results were announced."

The series developed after Helliker was himself diangosed with an aortic aneurysm. "The series showed how aortic aneurysms are the most common preventable killer that the average American hasn't heard about," he said. "One of the reasons for this ignorance is that physicians themselves often know little about the condition. ... The stories have awakened a lot of people in the medical community and the community at large. ... The popular perception of aortic aneurysms is that they strike like lightning. But the perception is changing, and I think we've contributed to that."

The New York Times only won one Pulitzer this year, though it was for Public Service, considered the most prestigious prize. The Times' award was for an unusual collaboration across media with the PBS program "Frontline" and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. The piece examined worker safety at the foundries of McWane Inc., a cast-iron pipe manufacturer where lax enforcement of rules contributed to thousands of injuries and some deaths.

"This article has won just about every award in print and broadcast," Times Executive Editor Bill Keller told E&P. "I thought it had a really good chance. I was not expecting they would change the category. I'm glad they did. "

The series was entered in both the investigative and the public service categories. It was a finalist for investigative reporting, and the board moved it to the public service category and gave it the prize.

Regarding the unusual partnership with PBS, Keller said, "It's the first time I'm aware of that anyone has done this with that much success. ... It pleased me that various juries seemed to get that it's larger than a conventional journalistic undertaking."

Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., 46, won the commentary Pulitzer. "The newsroom erupted in cheers," said Herald Executive Editor Tom Fiedler. "Everyone here felt he was long overdue. Today is validation for the extraordinary work he has done for years."

Many observers felt Pitts, who was named E&P's 2001 columnist of the year for his post-9/11 commentary, should have won a Pulitzer for that work in the spring of 2002.

Be that as it may, Pitts was thrilled to win this year. "It's the best feeling I've ever had as a professional," said the columnist, who writes from an independent perspective. "I was scared they were going to ask for a recount, this being Florida!"

Editorial cartoonist Matt Davies (profiled in this month's print issue of E&P) brought The Journal News of White Plains, N.Y., the first Pulitzer in its history. Publisher Gary Sherlock said: "Matt is a unique person -- a genuine nice guy who's gifted with incredible talent and intelligent commentary. His work truly differentiates The Journal News from others in the highly competitive New York market."

Pitts and Davies are both syndicated by Tribune Media Services. "It's a sunny day in Chicago," said TMS President David Williams -- and he meant it both literally and figuratively. "It's an honor to get one, let alone two Pulitzer Prizes."

Among the things that impresses Williams about both creators is their consistency. "They're very good day after day and week after week," he said.

The Dallas Morning News was honored for Breaking News Photography. "They showed so much courage and professionalism in the face of such a horrific environment," said Robert W. Mong Jr., editor and president of the newspaper, according to the AP. "I think they displayed the instincts of artists. It's just a very emotional moment for all of us."

No winner was chosen in the features category. This marks the first time a features award was not given since the category was established in 1979. The last time an award was not bestowed in a journalism category was 1993, when no Pulitzer was awarded for Editorial Writing.

"It is unusual, but it does happen," said Pulitzer Prize administrator Sig Gissler, on the board's decision. He acknowledged that the lack of a winner in a category does not necessarily mean the board did not believe any of the finalists were worthy, only that they could not agree on one winner.

Cash prizes for the 2004 Pulitzers were increased from $7,500 to $10,000. Each award winner receives a cash prize, with the exception of the Public Service award, which does not include a cash award. The $10,000 prize is split when more than one reporter contributed to the prize-winning package.