NEW YORK – News coverage of the pre- dawn raid by federal agents who took custody of Elian Gonzalez resulted yesterday in two Pulitzer Prizes: a breaking-news reporting award for The Miami Herald and a breaking-news photography award for Alan Diaz of The Associated Press.
Diaz captured on film the confrontation between a federal agent in riot gear holding a rifle and a man hiding with Elian in a closet. ”I knew I had taken the moment, in that room,” said Diaz, who had grown close to the boy’s Miami relatives during the seven-month custody battle and was inside the home when federal agents stormed it.
Herald managing editor Mark Seibel said what made the story special was that it took place on the newspaper’s home turf. ”Usually, you’re parachuting into someone else’s troubles,” he said.
Miami Herald Publisher Alberto Ibarguen said the boy’s story had elements that divided Miami, with many Cubans angry about the raid and many non-Cubans angry about the protests that followed. ”Husbands and wives wouldn’t talk to each other, co-workers had arguments. This was a very, very emotional time,” Ibarguen said.
Another paper that dealt with a controversial issue on its home turf was the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, whose editorial page editor, David Moats, won a Pulitzer for editorials supporting civil unions for gay couples. Vermont became the first state to approve such unions.
”There was a very hostile environment,” Moats said. ”I was getting letters from people right here in this small town and the town where I live, some of whom I know. The level of passion kind of raised the stakes.” He praised the 22,000-circulation paper for being ”willing to stick its neck out.” The Pulitzer Prizes, considered the most prestigious awards in newspaper journalism, are awarded annually on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board at Columbia University.
Four newspapers won two Pulitzers each: The Oregonian of Portland, the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
The Oregonian won the public-service award for a series on the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the feature-writing prize for Tom Hallman Jr.’s profile of Sam Lightner, a 14-year-old born with a large mass on the side of his head who decided to undergo life-threatening surgery to improve his appearance.
The INS series detailed abuses of power by immigration officials in Portland. The city had been dubbed ”Deportland” because of reports of unfair treatment of Japanese and other travelers at the airport. ”I really want to thank the sources. It took a lot of courage to tell their stories to us,” said Rich Read, who worked on the stories.
The Times’ David Cay Johnston won the beat-reporting award for exposing inequities in the U.S. tax code. He reported that big corporations were paying fewer taxes while the average citizen was paying more, and that the poor were more likely than the rich to have their tax returns audited.
The Times also won for national reporting for a series on racial experiences and attitudes in America. Reporters spent months chronicling the impact of race on ordinary citizens in churches, schools, police stations, workplaces and the military. ”People tend to not want to talk about it [race],” said Gerald Boyd, a deputy managing editor who worked on the project. ”I think we just stepped into that void.” The Chicago Tribune staff won the explanatory reporting award for ”Gateway to Gridlock,” which described the deterioration of air travel in the United States. A Tribune reporter, Paul Salopek, won one of two Pulitzers in international reporting, for his stories about disease and political strife in Africa.
The other international-reporting award went to Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal for stories about the Chinese government’s suppression of the Falun Gong movement. The Journal’s second Pulitzer, for commentary, went to Dorothy Rabinowitz.
The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., won its first-ever Pulitzer, for feature photography by Matt Rainey. His emotional pictures documented the care and recovery of two 18-year-old students burned in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University.
Rainey yesterday called the students ”two really special souls” who managed to escape the fire that killed three of their classmates, then battled through a painful recovery from third-degree burns. ”I think they’re heroes,” he said.
David Willman of the Los Angeles Times won for investigative reporting on unsafe drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including the now-banned diabetes drug Rezulin, and policy changes that reduced the agency’s ability to ensure public safety. ”The enthusiasm I feel is balanced in a very sobering way by the fact that I’ve gotten to know quite a few families who have lost loved ones to this drug,” Willman said.
Gail Caldwell of The Boston Globe won for criticism. The editorial cartooning prize went to Ann Telnaes of Tribune Media Services.
