The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news, local reporting on news of the moment. It has been awarded since 1953 under several names:[citation needed]
From 1953 to 1963: Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time
From 1964 to 1984: Pulitzer Prize for Local General or Spot News Reporting
From 1985 to 1990: Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting
From 1991 to 1997: Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting
From 1998 to present: Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting
Prior to 1953, a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting combined both breaking and investigative reporting under one category. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
Hitherto confined to local coverage, the Breaking News Reporting category was expanded to encompass state and national reporting in 2017.[1]
List of winners for Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time
"for a series of news stories dealing with the successful attack on one-man political rule in neighboring Duval County, written under unusual pressure both of edition time and difficult, even dangerous, circumstances. Mrs. Brown dug into the facts behind the dramatic daily events, as well, and obtained her stories in spite of the bitterest political opposition, showing professional skill and courage."[4]
"for her comprehensive year-long coverage of the integration crisis in Virginia which demonstrated admirable qualities of accuracy, speed and the ability to interpret the news under deadline pressure in the course of a difficult and taxing assignment."[a]
"for his daring and resourceful coverage of a disastrous flood that threatened his community, an individual effort in the finest tradition of spot news reporting."
"for its coverage of the Detroit riots of 1967, recognizing both the brilliance of its detailed spot news staff work and its swift and accurate investigation into the underlying causes of the tragedy."
"for his persistent and courageous reporting over eight and one-half years that led to the exoneration and release of two men who had twice been tried for murder and wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Florida."
"for her investigation of Anna Catherina Emmerick Academy, which linked the religious school's activities to right-wing extremist groups and revealed that it housed weaponry and explosives."
"for revealing misuse of funds by the PTLtelevision ministry through persistent coverage conducted in the face of a massive campaign by PTL to discredit the newspaper."
"for its exemplary initial coverage of a bus crash that claimed 27 lives and its subsequent thorough and effective examination of the causes and implications of the tragedy."
"for their investigation of financial wrongdoing by a popular county manager, reporting which was conducted in the face of strong local opposition and which ultimately led to the official's resignation."
"for its sensitive reporting of the failed legal battle fought by parents of a child born without a brain to donate the child's organs before her death."
"for its aggressive yet responsible coverage of a shooting at a local middle school in which two boys killed a teacher and four classmates and wounded 10 others."
"for its coverage of a 12-year-old boy's electrocution at a county bus shelter and the breaking news developments in the subsequent investigation of the shelter's faulty wiring, which likely caused the boy's death."
"for its comprehensive coverage of an environmental disaster created when a cargo ship carrying heavy fuels ran aground and broke apart, and how fumbling efforts of official agencies failed to contain the far-reaching damage."
"for its balanced and gripping on-the-scene coverage of the pre-dawn raid by federal agents that took the Cuban boy Elián González from his Miami relatives and reunited him with his Cuban father."
"for its compelling and resourceful coverage of every aspect of the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261 off the California coast, which killed 88 passengers."
"for its graphic and highly detailed coverage, despite restricted access, of the dormitory fire at Seton Hall University that killed three students and injured 58 others."
"for its comprehensive and insightful coverage, executed under the most difficult circumstances, of the terrorist attack on New York City, which recounted the day's events and their implications for the future."
"for its eloquent and precise coverage of the September 11th terrorist attacks that captured the gravity, drama and historic dimension of the day's events."
"for its enterprising coverage of the many local connections to the ex-soldier and his teenage companion arrested in the sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C. region."
"for its enterprising coverage of the summertime blackout that stretched over a vast area of the United States and cut the paper's own power supply as deadlines loomed."
"for its comprehensive, clear-headed coverage of the resignation of New Jersey's governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover."
"for its clear, cohesive and enterprising coverage of Hurricane Wilma after it battered a region still recovering from major storms the previous year."
"for its swift and sweeping coverage of a prostitution scandal that resulted in the resignation of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, breaking the story on its website and then developing it with authoritative, rapid-fire reports."
"for taking full advantage of online technology and its newsroom expertise to become a lifeline to the city when Hurricane Ike struck, providing vital minute-by-minute updates on the storm, its flood surge and its aftermath."
"for its creative and aggressive coverage, both online and in print, of a city hall shooting that left six people dead, displaying an exemplary blend of speed and rigor in its reporting."
"for its comprehensive coverage, in print and online, of the shooting deaths of four police officers in a coffee house and the 40-hour manhunt for the suspect."[9]
"for its enterprising coverage of a deadly tornado, using social media as well as traditional reporting to provide real-time updates, help locate missing people and produce in-depth print accounts even after power disruption forced the paper to publish at another plant 50 miles away."
"for its comprehensive coverage of the mass shooting that killed six and wounded 13, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, an exemplary use of journalistic tools, from Twitter to video to written reports and features, to tell an unfolding story."
"for its energetic coverage of 27 days of around-the-clock protests in the State Capitol over collective bargaining rights, using an array of journalistic tools to capture one breaking development after another."
"for its comprehensive coverage of the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, that killed 12 and injured 58, using journalistic tools, from Twitter and Facebook to video and written reports, both to capture a breaking story and provide context."[10]
"for its vivid coverage of a wildfire that destroyed more than 300 homes, combining on-the-ground reporting with imaginative use of digital tools, including a before-and-after interactive feature that helped displaced fire victims determine the fate of their homes before there was official notification."
"for its complete and sensitive coverage of the shooting massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and 6 adults, using digital tools as well as traditional reporting to tell the story quickly while portraying the stunned community's grief."
"for exhaustive and empathetic coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing and the ensuing manhunt that enveloped the city, using photography and a range of digital tools to capture the full impact of the tragedy."[11]
"for its compelling coverage of a fast-moving wildfire that claimed the lives of 19 firefighters and destroyed more than a hundred homes, using an array of journalistic tools to tell the story."
"for its alert, in-depth coverage of the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, employing a mix of platforms to tell a developing story with accuracy and sensitivity."
"for its digital account of a landslide that killed 43 people and the impressive follow-up reporting that explored whether the calamity could have been avoided."[12]
"for a superbly reported and written account of a lake-effect snowstorm, using human detail to illuminate the story and multimedia elements to help readers through the storm."
"for a quick but thoughtful response to a shooting spree, beginning with minute-by-minute digital storytelling and evolving into print coverage that delved into the impact of the tragedy."
"for exceptional reporting, including both local and global perspectives, on the shooting in San Bernardino and the terror investigation that followed."
"for fast-moving coverage of the rioting that followed the death of Freddie Gray, reflecting the newsroom's knowledge of the community and advancing the conversation about police violence."
"for relentless coverage of the 'Ghost Ship' fire, which killed 36 people at a warehouse party, and for reporting after the tragedy that exposed the city's failure to take actions that might have prevented it."[13]
"for keeping readers informed during a chaotic shooting spree that killed five police officers and injured nine others and delivering timely, vivid and heartbreaking accounts of the horrific night."
"for coverage of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, including middle-of-the-night reports as party-goers hid and police prepared to storm the building and subsequent work that took readers inside the club and humanized the victims."
"for lucid and tenacious coverage of historic wildfires that ravaged the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, expertly utilizing an array of tools, including photography, video and social media platforms, to bring clarity to its readers—in real time and in subsequent in-depth reporting."[14]
"for comprehensive and dynamic coverage of Hurricane Harvey that captured real-time developments of the unprecedented scale of the disaster and provided crucial information to its community during the storm and its aftermath."
"for authoritative and innovative coverage of the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history at a concert in Las Vegas, using poignant storytelling as well as groundbreaking video analysis and motion graphics to illustrate how the attack unfolded."
"for immersive, compassionate coverage of the massacre at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue that captured the anguish and resilience of a community thrust into grief."[15]
"for its rapid coverage of hundreds of last-minute pardons by Kentucky's governor, showing how the process was marked by opacity, racial disparities and violations of legal norms."[d]
"for dynamic coverage that expertly blended multimedia components, frequent updates and rich narrative to report on a devastating California boat fire that killed 34 people."
"for their prescient, expert and accessible coverage of the emergence of COVID-19, sounding the alarm on the potential spread and potency of the virus."
"for exclusive coverage that contradicted police narratives in the killing of Breonna Taylor, and for its sensitive and innovative coverage of the aftermath."
"for deeply sourced and detailed reporting about a fatal shooting on the set of the film Rust that moved beyond the day's events to a larger consideration of labor and safety concerns in the film industry."
"for its aggressive and revelatory reporting about the attack on Washington on January 6, 2021, delivered as the events were unfolding and afterwards."
"for revealing a secretly recorded conversation among city officials that included racist comments, followed by coverage of the rapidly resulting turmoil and deeply reported pieces that delved further into the racial issues affecting local politics."[18]
"for its urgent and comprehensive coverage of New York City's deadliest fire in decades, expertly combining accountability reporting across platforms with compassionate portraits of the 17 victims and the Gambian community that had long called the Bronx high-rise home."
"for its detailed and nimble community-focused coverage, over a holiday weekend, of catastrophic flooding and mudslides that displaced thousands of California residents and destroyed more than 1,000 homes and businesses."[19]
"for its distinctive, sweeping and urgent coverage of the Maui wildfires that killed more than 100 people and left a historic town in ruins, reporting that held officials to account and chronicled the aftermath and efforts to rebuild."[d]
"for urgent and thoughtful coverage of a Lunar New Year overnight shooting that left 11 senior citizens dead, demonstrating clear knowledge of and commitment to the local Asian communities."
"for urgent and illuminating coverage of the July 13 attempt to assassinate then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including detailed story-telling and sharp analysis that coupled traditional police reporting with audio and visual forensics."
"for fast, comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, including vivid details from the scene followed by the first reporting on gaps in security measures by the Secret Service and local law enforcement."
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