Reuters, Guardian US, Washington Post, Boston Globe win Pulitzer prizes

The Washington Post and The Guardian won the Pulitzer Prize in public service Monday for revealing the U.S. government’s sweeping surveillance efforts in stories based on thousands of secret documents handed over by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.

The Pulitzer for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its coverage of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

Their stories, based on thousands of secret documents handed over by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, touched off a furious debate in the U.S. over privacy versus security, and led President Barack Obama to impose limits on the surveillance.

Two staff writers of the Reuters news agency were awarded the prize for international reporting.

The Pulitzers are the best known and most prestigious awards for the arts and journalism in the U.S.

The Pulitzer Prize for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its “exhaustive and empathetic” coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and the manhunt that followed.

The New York Times won two Pulitzers in photography, including in the breaking news category for documenting the terrorist attack at the Westgate mall in Kenya.

The prize for international reporting was awarded to Reuters news agency for its story on the violent persecution of the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Burma .

The annual prizes, begun in 1917, are named for publisher Joseph Pulitzer and are administered by Columbia University in New York City. In 20 of the categories, each winner receives $10,000. The winner for public service in journalism is awarded a gold medal.

For a full list of Pulitzer winners for 2014, go to http://www.pulitzer.org/node/8501

Source: THE TIMES OF EARTH and agencies