Washington Post, Guardian Win Pulitzers for NSA Reporting

[villager]

Source: Bloomberg

The Washington Post and the Guardian won Pulitzer Prizes for public service for their coverage of the surveillance tactics of the U.S. National Security Agency.

The Post, acquired last year by Amazon.com Inc. Chairman Jeff Bezos, also won for explanatory reporting. The New York Times garnered two awards, both for photography, while the Boston Globe got the prize for breaking-news reporting for its coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Using classified information provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, the Post and the Guardian reported that the agency had collected data on U.S. residents’ phone calls and foreign nationals’ Internet activity. The revelations hurt U.S. relations with allies such as Germany and led President Barack Obama to propose limits to global surveillance.

The 98th annual Pulitzer Prizes for excellence in reporting and the arts were announced today by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

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Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-14/washington-post-guardian-win-pulitzers-for-nsa-spying-coverage.html

[ucrdem]

1. Thanks and DU rec

[villager]

2. Color me slightly puzzled, but... you're welcome!

Glad there's a commentable thread back in LBN!

[Sammy Glick]

4. For now.

[villager]

5. heh.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Pulitzer Vindicates: Snowden Journalists Win Top Honor

Published on Monday, April 14, 2014 by Common Dreams

Pulitzer Vindicates: Snowden Journalists Win Top Honor

Guardian and Washington Post each honored with Pulitzer for Public Service

- Lauren McCauley, staff writer

The Washington Post and the Guardian/US were both awarded one of journalism's top honors on Monday—the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service— for their separate but related reporting on the NSA's widespread surveillance documents leaked by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Ewen MacAskill from the Guardian and the Washington Post's Barton Gellman sent shock waves across the globe for their reporting on the leaks—eliciting responses from citizens and governments alike and spurring a new era of backlash against government intrusion.

Following news of the honor, Snowden released a statement thanking the Pulitzer committee for recognizing those involved in the NSA reporting. He wrote:

Today's decision is a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government. We owe it to the efforts of the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced destruction of journalistic materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws, and so many other means of pressure to get them to stop what the world now recognizes was work of vital public importance.

This decision reminds us that what no individual conscience can change, a free press can. My efforts would have been meaningless without the dedication, passion, and skill of these newspapers, and they have my gratitude and respect for their extraordinary service to our society. Their work has given us a better future and a more accountable democracy.

More:
https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2014/04/14-6

[Sammy Glick]

6. The Post initially declined to publish the Snowden docs.

That's why Snowden gave them to Greenwald and the Guardian. But whoever said the Pulitzer was fair?

[adirondacker]

7. I missed your post and reposted as "Breaking". Ooops. Good article and...

I just heard the same info given over BBC radio on NPR.

[NealK]

8. K&R

That plus a Polk Award.