Huffington Post and Politico celebrate first Pulitzer prize wins

The Huffington Post and Politico are celebrating their first-ever Pulitzer prize wins, in a set of awards in which digital journalism was highly recognised.

The Post, which was sold to AOL last year, won an award for US national reporting for a 10-part series of reports, Beyond the Battlefield, by its senior military correspondent David Wood.

Wood, who has covered wars for decades and joined the Huffington Post last year, was praised by judges for his "riveting exploration of the physical and emotional challenges facing American soldiers severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan during a decade of war".

Site founder Arianna Huffington said in a release: "We are delighted and deeply honoured by the award, which recognizes both David's exemplary piece of purposeful journalism and HuffPost's commitment to original reporting that affects both the national conversation and the lives of real people.

"From the beginning, one of the core pillars of HuffPost's editorial philosophy has been to use narrative and storytelling to put flesh and blood on data and statistics, and to help bear witness to the struggles faced by millions of Americans.

"We are very grateful to have won for this series, the culmination of David Wood’s long career as a military correspondent, and an affirmation that great journalism is thriving on the Web."

Five-year-old political newspaper and website Politico picked up the award for editorial cartooning, for the work of Matt Wuerker, who judges said produced "consistently fresh, funny cartoons, especially memorable for lampooning the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington".

Sara Ganim, from the Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, became one of the youngest journalists to pick up a Pulitzer prize. The 24-year-old won the local reporting award for "courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky".

AFP photographer Massoud Hossaini won the breaking news photography award for a graphic image of a 12-year-old girl screaming in fear, moment after a suicide bomb struck in Kabul last December.

The New York Times was the only news outlet to win two awards, for explanatory reporting and international reporting.

Links to all the winners' work and the judges' citations can be found on the Pulitzer prize website

Public service
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Breaking news reporting
The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News Staff

Investigative reporting
Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the Associated Press
and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times

Explanatory reporting
David Kocieniewski of The New York Times

Local reporting
Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News Staff, Harrisburg, Penn

National reporting
David Wood of The Huffington Post

International reporting
Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times

Feature writing
Eli Sanders of The Stranger, a Seattle (Wash.) weekly

Commentary
Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune

Criticism
Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe

Editorial writing
No award

Editorial cartooning
Matt Wuerker of POLITICO

Breaking news photography
Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse

Feature photography
Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post

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