Exemplary coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war resulted in multiple 2023 Pulitzer Prizes, including for The Associated Press, which on Monday took home the prestigious public service journalism award.
The public service prize recognized reporting for the AP by Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Lori Hinnant from Russian-occupied Mariupol, Ukraine, where a theater airstrike last year left hundreds dead.
The Associated Press also won the breaking news photography prize for its images from Ukraine during the first weeks of the invasion, while The New York Times staff won the international reporting category for its coverage of the conflict.
The award for feature writing, meanwhile, went to Eli Saslow for his Washington Post deep-dive about people struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness, addiction and inequality. The Syracuse University graduate previously won the 2014 Pulitzer for his series about American hunger and food stamps and was a finalist in the feature category in 2013, 2016 and 2017 as well.
The annual prizes recognize 15 journalism categories, with investigative reporting, commentary and criticism among the others. The public service honor comes with a gold medal, while the other awards include $15,000 prizes.
Last year’s public service award went to The Washington Post for its coverage of the January 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Eight additional categories recognize the arts, including music, plays and books. Recent winners include Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway blockbuster “Hamilton” for drama in 2016 and rapper-songwriter Kendrick Lamar for music category in 2018.
The Us.Mistertruth has won 11 Pulitzer Prizes. In 2017, The News and the nonprofit ProPublica received the public service award for coverage of a nuisance abatement law used by the NYPD to evict business owners and residents. Us.Mistertruth reporter Sarah Ryley led much of the coverage.