Washington Post cleans up with 6 Pulitzers; Dylan earns honorary prize
NEW YORK -- Like many newspapers, The Washington Post is struggling mightily with falling circulation and advertising revenue. It's going through its third round of employee buyouts since 2003.
But cheers erupted Monday in the newsroom when staffers learned the newspaper had hauled in a near-record six Pulitzer Prizes, journalism's top awards.
"This is actually a boost to remind people that we can produce this kind of journalism at any time," said Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. "We're going to have a large enough newsroom to continue to produce this kind of quality journalism."
In the arts category, Pulitzer winners included Bob Dylan, who received an honorary Pulitzer Prize; Tracy Letts for his dark play, "August: Osage County;" and Junot Diaz, who won the fiction prize for his novel "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."
Diaz, 39, worked for more than a decade on his first novel, a tragic but humorous story of desire, politics and violence among Dominicans at home and in the United States -- "I spent most of the time on dead-ends and doubts," he told The Associated Press on Monday.
The Post was honored for its coverage of the Virginia Tech rampage, for exposing deplorable conditions at Walter Reed military hospital, and for revealing the enormous behind-the-scenes influence of Vice President Dick Cheney, among other projects.
In the always-fierce competition among major papers, The New York Times won two Pulitzers, for investigative reporting about toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China, and one for explanatory reporting on ethical issues related to DNA testing.
Previously, the Post won as many as four Pulitzers in a single year, in 2006. The record is seven, won by the Times in 2002, mostly for its coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Dylan's win marked the first time rock 'n' roll was honored by the Pulitzers, although several jazz musicians have won prizes and citations in the past.
The judges cited Dylan for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."
Dylan continues to tour almost continuously and release highly regarded CDs. Fans, critics and academics have obsessed over his lyrics since the 1960s, when such protest anthems as "Blowin' in the Wind" made Dylan a poet and prophet for a rebellious generation.
The Washington Post swept the major categories, including the prestigious public service award for its series on Walter Reed. Reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull and photographer Michel du Cille documented poor treatment and living conditions for wounded soldiers, prompting national revulsion that led to the firing of the Army secretary and reforms ordered by a presidential commission.
"I am still surprised at the huge reaction that it got, not just from the government but mainly from readers," said Priest. "People are still calling to say 'What can they do and how can they make things better?'"
The Post's other awards came in breaking news, for its comprehensive staff coverage of 32 murders and suicide by a deranged student at Virginia Tech last year; national reporting by Barton Gellman and Jo Becker on Vice President Dick Cheney's backstage influence; international reporting, for a series on private security contractors' operations in Iraq; feature writing for Gene Weingarten's gripping story on violinist Joshua Bell; and commentary for Steven Pearlstein's columns on the nation's economy.
The Chicago Tribune, as well as the Times, won for investigative reporting. It was honored for its report on faulty government oversight of car seats, cribs and toys.
Government accountability was a theme in other awards as well. David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won in the local reporting category for stories on the padding of county employees' pensions.
Other journalism winners were editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily; The Boston Globe's Mark Feeney for criticism; photographer Adrees Latif of Reuters for his spot news photo of a Japanese videographer fatally wounded in Myanmar street riots; and Preston Gannaway of the Concord (N.H.) Monitor for photo feature coverage of a family dealing with terminal illness.
"Amid all the gloomy talk about journalism today, these are fine examples of high-quality journalism in all parts of the nation," said Sig Gissler, administrator for the Pulitzers.
The winning play, "August: Osage County," debuted at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company last summer and later was well-reviewed in New York. The playwright's father, Dennis Letts, who appeared in the cast as an Oklahoma patriarch, died of cancer in February, weeks after his last performance.
In a telephone interview from Chicago, Tracy Letts called his Pulitzer win "pretty overwhelming." The play, he said, is "loosely autobiographical," drawing on family tragedy. "I always thought, 'Well, that's the stuff of drama right there.'"
Other awards in the arts included:
-- "What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848," by Daniel Walker Howe, a professor emeritus at Oxford and UCLA, received the prize for history.
-- Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Hass, already a National Book Award winner for "Time and Materials," won the poetry Pulitzer, as did Philip Schultz's "Failure."
-- John Matteson, won the biography award for "Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father."
-- "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945," by Saul Friedlander won the general nonfiction award.
-- "The Little Match Girl Passion" by David Lang took the music prize.
The Pulitzers, created by the will of publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who died in 1911, are journalism's highest honor. Given by Columbia University on the recommendation of an 18-member board, each is worth $10,000, except for public service, where a gold medal goes to the winning newspaper.
The 2008 Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists:
JOURNALISM:
Public Service: The Washington Post for exposing the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital. Finalists: The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer for reporting on the effects of the mortgage crisis; Newsday of Long Island for its investigation of dangerous gaps on railroad platforms.
Breaking News Reporting: The Washington Post staff for its coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre. Finalists: The (Boise) Idaho Statesman staff for its coverage of the Sen. Larry Craig scandal; The New York Times staff for coverage of a fire in the Bronx that killed nine people, eight of them children.
Investigative Reporting: Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker of The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune staff. The Times won for stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China; the Tribune for exposing faulty regulation of toys, car seats and cribs. Finalist: Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene of The Denver Post for reports on the destruction of evidence in criminal cases.
Explanatory Reporting: Amy Harmon of The New York Times for her examination of the dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany DNA testing. Finalists: Beth Daley of The Boston Globe for coverage of how global warming affects New England residents; the staff of The Oregonian in Portland for reports on a breakthrough in producing microprocessors.
Local Reporting: David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad pensions of county employees. Finalists: Chris Davis, Matthew Doig and Tiffany Lankes of the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune for exposing predatory teachers; Jeff Pillets, John Brennan and Tim Nostrand of The Record, Hackensack, N.J., for a probe of favoritism and questionable state loans in a plan to build luxury housing on old landfills.
National Reporting: Jo Becker and Barton Gellman of The Washington Post for their exploration of Vice President Dick Cheney's influence on national policy. Finalists: The New York Times staff for stories about CIA interrogation techniques criticized as torture; Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune for his examination of racial issues in America.
International Reporting: Steve Fainaru of The Washington Post for his series on private security contractors in Iraq that operate outside most of the laws governing American forces. Finalists: The New York Times staff for coverage of the U.S. military's efforts to reduce sectarian violence in Iraq; The Wall Street Journal staff for reports on the dismantling of democracy in Russia under Vladimir Putin.
Feature Writing: Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post for chronicling the violinist Joshua Bell as he played beautiful music in a subway station filled with unheeding commuters. Finalists: Thomas Curwen of the Los Angeles Times for an account of a grizzly bear attack and the recovery of the two victims; Kevin Vaughan of the Rocky Mountain News, Denver, for a retelling of a school bus-train accident that killed 20 children in 1961.
Commentary: Steven Pearlstein of The Washington Post for columns exploring the nation's complex economic ills. Finalists: Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, for columns on alienated teenagers in a dangerous city neighborhood; John Kass of the Chicago Tribune for columns on the abuse of local political power and other topics.
Criticism: Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe for his command of the visual arts, from film and photography to painting. Finalists: Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post for movie reviews and essays; Inga Saffron of The Philadelphia Inquirer for architecture critiques.
Editorial Writing: No award. Finalists: Maureen Downey of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for editorials on harsh sentences for consensual sex by teenagers; Rodger Jones of The Dallas Morning News for editorials calling for mandatory roll call votes on statewide legislation; the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal staff for a campaign against abuses in the governor's veto power.
Editorial Cartooning: Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily for what the judges called his "provocative cartoons." Finalists: Tom Batiuk of King Features for a sequence in "Funky Winkerbean" portraying a woman's struggle with breast cancer; and Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor for cartoons "marked by sharp focus and pungent simplicity."
Breaking News Photography: Adrees Latif of Reuters for his photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a street demonstration in Myanmar. Finalists: Mahmud Hams of Agence France-Presse for a picture of a missile falling on a target in the Gaza Strip while Palestinians scramble for safety; and the Los Angeles Times staff for photos of wildfires devastating parts of California.
Feature Photography: Preston Gannaway of the Concord (N.H.) Monitor for her chronicle of a family coping with a parent's terminal illness. Finalists: David Guttenfelder of The Associated Press for photos of Vietnamese children affected by toxic Agent Orange decades after the war; Mona Reeder of The Dallas Morning News for pictures of disadvantaged Texans hidden amid the state's prosperity.
ARTS:
Fiction: "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books). Finalists: "Tree of Smoke" by Denis Johnson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), and "Shakespeare's Kitchen" by Lore Segal (The New Press).
Drama: "August: Osage County," by Tracy Letts. Finalists: "Yellow Face" by David Henry Hwang; "Dying City" by Christopher Shinn.
History: "What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815-1848," by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press). Finalists: "Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power" by Robert Dallek (HarperCollins); "The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War" by the late David Halberstam (Hyperion).
Biography: "Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father," by John Matteson (W.W. Norton). Finalists: "The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein" by Martin Duberman (Alfred A. Knopf); "The Life of Kingsley Amis" by Zachary Leader (Pantheon).
Poetry: "Time and Materials," by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins) and "Failure," by Philip Schultz (Harcourt). Finalist: "Messenger: New and Selected Poems," 1976-2006" by Ellen Bryant Voigt (W.W. Norton).
General Nonfiction: "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945," by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins). Finalists: "The Cigarette Century" by Allan Brandt (Basic Books); "The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century" by Alex Ross (Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
MUSIC: "The Little Match Girl Passion," by David Lang, premiered Oct. 25 at Carnegie Hall, New York. (G. Schirmer Inc.) Finalists: "Meanwhile" by Stephen Hartke (ELR Music Publishing Inc.); "Concerto for Viola" by Robert Sierra (Subito Music Publishing).
SPECIAL CITATION: Bob Dylan, "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."