A frightening exposé on unsafe drugs OK’d by the federal government and a shocking probe into the U.S. immigration service nailed prized Pulitzers for two newspapers yesterday.
Breaking-news coverage of the Elian Gonzalez saga also was behind two more of the prestigious journalism awards – including one for the chilling photo of a federal agent confronting the screaming 6-year-old Cuban boy and one of his Miami caretakers in the pre-dawn raid at a relative’s house.
“It’s awesome! I can’t believe it!” said winning Associated Press photographer Alan Diaz.
The Miami Herald staff won the other award in the breaking-news category for its stories covering the raid.
David Willman of The Los Angeles Times won the investigative-journalism prize for his report on unsafe drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, including the now-banned diabetes drug Rezulin.
“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 and can’t be brought back by this,” Willman said.
The Oregonian of Portland scooped up a prize for its team probe into abuses by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Oregonian feature writer Tom Hallman Jr. also won a Pulitzer for his touching profile of a facially deformed teen who underwent corrective surgery.
An eye-opening series that detailed loopholes and inequities in the U.S. Tax Code led to the beat-reporting Pulitzer for David Cay Johnston of The New York Times.
The Times also copped the national-reporting award for its series on race in America.
International-reporting prizes went to Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal for his series on the Falun Gong movement in China and to Paul Salopek of the Chicago Tribune for his work on strife in Africa.
Other winners included:
David Moats of the Rutland (Vt.) Herald for editorials in support of civil unions for gay couples.
The Chicago Tribune for explanatory reporting about the U.S. air-traffic system.
Matt Rainey, photographer for The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., for his feature photos of two recovering victims of a Seton Hall University fire. With Post Wire Services