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Fred Knubel, Director of Public Information
FOR USE UPON RECEIPT: April 9, 1996

The 80th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, were announced today by President George Rupp of Columbia University.

The winners in each category, along with the names of the finalists in the competition, follow:

A. PRIZES IN JOURNALISM
1. PUBLIC SERVICE

For a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its journalistic resources, which may include editorials, cartoons, and photographs, as well as reporting, a gold medal.

Awarded to The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C., for the work of Melanie Sill, Pat Stith and Joby Warrick on the environmental and health risks of waste disposal systems used in North Carolina's growing hog industry.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Star Tribune, Minneapolis-St. Paul, for articles revealing questionable favors extended by a local legal publishing company to members of the federal judiciary, including several Supreme Court justices, and The Baltimore Sun for the work of Ginger Thompson and Gary Cohn that disclosed the activities of a Honduran army unit that abducted, tortured and murdered political suspects in the 1980s with the knowledge of the CIA.

2. SPOT NEWS REPORTING

For a distinguished example of local reporting of spot news, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Robert D. McFadden of The New York Times for his highly skilled writing and reporting on deadline during the year.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: The Eagle-Tribune, Lawrence, Mass., for its coverage of a fire that leveled a local textile factory, the city's largest employer, and its devastating effects on the community, and Los Angeles Times staff for its coverage of the local and global impact of the purchase of Capital Cities/ABC Inc. by the Walt Disney Company.

3. INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

For a distinguished example of investigative reporting within a newspaper's area of circulation by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to the staff of The Orange County Register, Santa Ana, Calif., for reporting that uncovered fraudulent and unethical fertility practices at a leading research university hospital and prompted key regulatory reforms.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were Chris Adams of The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, La., for reporting on widespread Medicaid abuse in the state involving prominent officials, and David Jackson and William Gaines of the Chicago Tribune for stories that probed questionable business dealings of the Nation of Islam.

4. EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM

For a distinguished example of explanatory journalism that illuminates significant and complex issues, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Laurie Garrett of Newsday, Long Island, N.Y., for her courageous reporting from Zaire on the Ebola virus outbreak there.

(The winner was entered and nominated in the International Reporting category and was moved by the Pulitzer Prize Board to Explanatory Journalism.)
Nominated as finalists in this category were: Chris Lester and Jeffrey Spivak of The Kansas City Star for their series on the impact of spreading suburban growth; Michael A. Hiltzik, David R. Olmos and Barbara Marsh of the Los Angeles Times for reporting on problems stemming from the lack of regulation in California's booming managed health care industry and the implications for the rest of the country, and Adam Bryant, Stephen Engelberg and Matthew L. Wald of The New York Times for their coverage of deficient safety regulation of commuter air traffic.

5. BEAT REPORTING

For a distinguished example of beat reporting, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Bob Keeler of Newsday, Long Island, N.Y., for his detailed portrait of a progressive local Catholic parish and its parishioners.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Alison Grant of The Plain Dealer of Cleveland for articles uncovering corrupt dealings between contractors and city officials in the suburb of Beachwood that resulted in indictments and significant reforms, and Fred Schulte and Jenni Bergal of the Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for disclosing problems and abuses in the state's tax-funded Medicaid health maintenance organizations.

6. NATIONAL REPORTING

For a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Alix M. Freedman of The Wall Street Journal for her coverage of the tobacco industry, including a report that exposed how ammonia additives heighten nicotine potency.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Russell Carollo, Carol Hernandez and Jeff Nesmith of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News for their reporting on lenient handling of sexual misconduct cases by the military justice system, and David Maraniss and Michael Weiskopf of The Washington Post for their accounts of the way the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives played out during 1995.

7. INTERNATIONAL REPORTING

For a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).)

Awarded to David Rohde of The Christian Science Monitor for his persistent on-site reporting of the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Laurie Garrett of Newsday,Long Island, N.Y., for her courageous reporting from Zaire on the Ebola virus outbreak there, and The Wall Street Journal staff for its coverage of the collapse of the Mexican peso and the resulting effect on world finance.

8. FEATURE WRITING

For a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high literary quality and originality, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Rick Bragg of The New York Times for his elegantly written stories about contemporary America.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Richard E. Meyer of the Los Angeles Times for "Buried Alive", his chilling profile of a woman's desperate attempts to communicate after being left mute and paralyzed by strokes, and Hank Stuever of The Albuquerque Tribune for his detailed and highly personal account of returning to his hometown of Oklahoma City after the bombing there.

9. COMMENTARY

For distinguished commentary, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to E.R. Shipp of the New York Daily News for her penetrating columns on race, welfare and other social issues.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle for his columns about life in San Francisco and beyond, and Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal for her columns effectively challenging key cases of alleged child abuse.

10. CRITICISM

For distinguished criticism, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Robert Campbell of The Boston Globe for his knowledgeable writing on architecture.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Gail Caldwell of The Boston Globe for her insightful reviews and comments on books and the literary scene, and Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun for his distinguished film criticism.

11. EDITORIAL WRITING

For distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Robert B. Semple, Jr. of The New York Times for his editorials on environmental issues.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Daniel P. Henninger of The Wall Street Journal for his editorials on a wide range of topical subjects, and N. Don Wycliff of the Chicago Tribune for his editorials about welfare reform and its effect on children.

12. EDITORIAL CARTOONING

For a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing and pictorial effect, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Jim Morin of The Miami Herald.

Nominated as finalists in this category were: Jim Borgman of The Cincinnati Enquirer; Ted Rall of Chronicle Features, San Francisco, Calif., and Tom Toles of The Buffalo News.

13. SPOT NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

For a distinguished example of spot news photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Charles Porter IV, a freelancer, for his haunting photographs, taken after the Oklahoma City bombing and distributed by the Associated Press,showing a one-year-old victim handed to and then cradled by a local fireman.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: the Associated Press staff for a portfolio of searing images of the war in Chechnya, and Jerome Delay of the Associated Press for his dramatic photographic coverage of the Middle East and Bosnia (moved by the jury from the Feature Photography category).

14. FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY

For a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to Stephanie Welsh, a freelancer, for her shocking sequence of photos, published by Newhouse News Service, of a female circumcision rite in Kenya.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe for his photographs documenting how the lives of two teen-agers were transformed by the birth of their child, and David C. Turnley of the Detroit Free Press for his series of portraits from Bosnia (moved by the jury from the Spot News Photography category).

SPECIAL AWARD

Awarded to Herb Caen, local columnist of the San Francisco Chronicle, for his extraordinary and continuing contribution as a voice and conscience of his city.

B. LETTERS AND DRAMA PRIZES
1. FICTION

For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "Independence Day" by Richard Ford (Alfred A. Knopf).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Mr. Ives' Christmas" by Oscar Hijuelos (HarperCollins), and "Sabbath's Theater" by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin).

2. DRAMA

For a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "Rent" by the late Jonathan Larson.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "A Fair Country" by Jon Robin Baitz, and "Old Wicked Songs" by Jon Marans.

3. HISTORY

`For a distinguished book upon the history of the United States, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic" by Alan Taylor (Alfred A. Knopf).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic" by Lance Banning (Cornell University Press), and "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb" by Richard Rhodes (Simon & Schuster).

4. BIOGRAPHY

For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "God: A Biography" by Jack Miles (Alfred A. Knopf).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "John Sloan: Painter and Rebel" by John Loughery (Henry Holt), and "Mozart: A Life" by Maynard Solomon (HarperCollins).

5. POETRY

For a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "The Dream of the Unified Field" by Jorie Graham (The Ecco Press).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "New and Selected Poems" by Donald Justice (Alfred A. Knopf), and "Chickamauga" by Charles Wright (Farrar Straus and Giroux).

6. GENERAL NON-FICTION

For a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism" by Tina Rosenberg (Random House).

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and The Meanings of Life" by Daniel C. Dennett (Simon & Schuster), and "Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder" by Lawrence Weschler (Pantheon).

C. PRIZE IN MUSIC

For distinguished musical composition by an American in any of the larger forms including chamber, orchestral, choral, opera, song, dance, or other forms of musical theatre, which has had its first performance in the United States during the year, Three thousand dollars ($3,000).

Awarded to "Lilacs" for voice and orchestra by George Walker, premiered on February 1, 1996, in Boston by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and was commissioned by that orchestra.

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: "Adagio Tenebroso" by Elliott Carter, premiered on October 15, 1995, in Birmingham, Ala., by the BBC Symphony Orchestra; and "Variations for Violin and Piano" by Peter Lieberson, premiered on May 28, 1995, at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C.

The Pulitzer Prize Board made its recommendations when it met at Columbia on April 4 and 5 and passed them to President Rupp. It announced that the presentation of the awards would be made at a luncheon on May 20 at Columbia University.

James V. Risser, Walter Rugaber, Helen Vendler and Marilyn Yarbrough were re-elected to membership on the board. Seymour Topping was re-elected administrator of the Prizes.

The members of the Pulitzer Prize Board are: President Rupp, Joan Konner, dean, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University (ex-officio); Louis D. Boccardi, president and chief executive officer, the Associated Press; Sissela Bok, writer and philosopher; John S. Carroll, editor and senior vice president, The Baltimore Sun; John L. Dotson, Jr., president and publisher, Akron Beacon Journal; Jack Fuller, president and publisher, Chicago Tribune; Peter R. Kann, chairman and chief executive officer, Dow Jones and Co., Inc. (chairman); William B. Ketter, editor and vice president, The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass.; Geneva Overholser, ombudsman, The Washington Post; Rena Pederson, vice president/editorial page editor, The Dallas Morning News; James V. Risser, director, John S. Knight Fellowships, Stanford University; Sandra Mims Rowe, editor, The Oregonian; Walter Rugaber, president and publisher, Roanoke (Va.) Times; William Safire, columnist, The New York Times; Edward Seaton, editor in chief, Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury; Helen Vendler, Porter University professor, Harvard University; Marilyn Yarbrough, associate provost and professor of law, University of North Carolina, and Seymour Topping, administrator of the Prizes.

In any category in which board members have an interest due to the action of the various nominating juries, those members do not participate in the discussion and voting and leave the room until a decision is reached in the affected category. Similarly, members of nominating juries do not participate in the discussion of or voting on entries in which they have an interest.

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