Newspapers Win Pulitzers for Katrina Reporting

Posted on April 18, 2006

The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and Sun Herald of Biloxi, Mississippi have both won Pulitzers for Public Service. Both of the newspapers covered and continue to cover the Hurricane Katrina disaster and aftermath. The Washington Post won four Pulitzer prizes for coverage of stories like secret CIA prisons and lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The BBC reports on this year's awards.

Both the New Orleans and Biloxi newspapers were praised for the depth of their reporting of Katrina which was conducted in the face of severe logistical problems.
The Pulitzer Committee particularly praised the Times-Picayune for its "heroic, multi-faceted coverage" which carried on even though the paper's print works had to be abandoned due to the flood waters.
The city editor of the Times-Picayune, David Meeks, told the BBC he was delighted with the recognition.
"This is a great day for the paper, obviously we'll never lose sight of the tragedy that spawned this recognition but we're very happy to be honoured this way by our peers," he said.
Pulitzer prize winners each receive $10,000, except in the public service category where a gold medal is awarded.

A complete list of the 2006 winners can be found here on the Pulitzer's website.