Pulitzer Prizes spotlight Jan 6 Capitol riot and Mideast air wars coverage

The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on Monday to an array of news organisations for investigations that uncovered the tragic toll of the United States’ air war in the Middle East, exposed the dangers of a Tampa lead smelter and pieced together the full picture of the Jan 6 riot at the US Capitol.

The New York Times won the most Pulitzer Prizes this year of any outlet, including in the international reporting, national reporting and criticism categories. A Times reporter, Andrea Elliott, also won the award for nonfiction book, reports The New York Times.

The Washington Post won the public service category, considered the most prestigious of the prizes, for “The Attack,” a sprawling chronological examination of what led to the siege on the Capitol building and what transpired during the riot and its aftermath. The Pulitzer Prizes are presented annually by Columbia University for excellence in journalism, books, music and drama.

The staff of the Times won in the international category for a deeply reported look at the failures of the US air war across the Middle East, including its tragic civilian toll. The Times drew on a trove of Pentagon documents to show how the breakdowns in military intelligence contrasted with the image of the war that the United States was presenting.

An investigation by the staff of the Times into deadly police encounters was recognised for national reporting. The reporters combed through court documents, prosecutor statements and audio and video recordings to find out why many police stops escalate into fatal encounters and how police are sometimes given cover after deaths in custody.

Salamishah Tillet, a contributing critic at large for the Times, won the criticism category for her writing on race in popular culture that examined Black experiences, including how the art inspired by the murder of George Floyd 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,” which was published by Random House and originated with a 2013 series she did at the Times.

During the tenure of Dean Baquet, the executive editor, the Times has been awarded 22 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any top editor in decades. Baquet will step down from his role in June and will be succeeded by Joseph Kahn, the paper’s managing editor.

The staff of the Miami Herald won for breaking news reporting for their coverage of the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo tower in the town of Surfside, which killed nearly 100 people.

Corey G Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of The Tampa Bay Times were awarded the prize for investigative reporting for “Poisoned,” in which they exposed the dangers of a lead smelter in Tampa, Florida, and the serious consequences it had on workers.

Madison Hopkins of the Better Government Association, a Chicago journalism nonprofit, and Cecilia Reyes of the Chicago Tribune won for local reporting after their yearlong reporting project revealed that Chicago officials had been warned about safety issues in buildings where tenants were killed by fires.

The staff of Quanta Magazine, a science and mathematics publication, including the reporter Natalie Wolchover, were awarded the explanatory reporting award for coverage of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic won the features writing award for her article on a family grappling with loss in the 20 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Melinda Henneberger, a columnist at The Kansas City Star, was awarded the prize for commentary for her work demanding justice for the alleged victims of a retired police detective, who is accused of raping and exploiting Black women.

For the editorial writing category, Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle were awarded for “The Big Lie,” a series on voter suppression that examined claims of voter fraud.

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 illustrated reporting and commentary prize for using comics to tell the story of China’s oppression of the Uyghur ethnic minority.