Pulitzers: Seven for NYT

NEW YORK, April 8 (UPI) -- The New York Times captured seven of the 2002 Pulitzer Prizes Monday, including awards for public service, international reporting and photography.

The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times each won two while other awards went to the Wall Street Journal, Newsday and the Christian Science Monitor.

The Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon dominated the awards.

The Times public service award went for its special section "A Nation Challenged," which chronicled stories of individuals killed in the attacks and followed breaking developments of the story. The award was for both the print and online editions of the section, the newspaper said.

The newspaper staff also won for explanatory reporting for what the prize committee called its "informed and detailed reporting before and after the Sept. 11 attacks on America."

The newspaper's staff also won for breaking news photography and for feature photography. The first was for its coverage of the attack on New York City. Singled out was a photo shot by Kelly Guenther from New Jersey of an airplane flying over lower Manhattan for the World Trade Center towers. The feature photography award went for photographs "chronicling the pain and perseverance of people enduring protracted conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan," the prize committee said.

Barry Barak of the Times also won for his coverage of life in war-torn Afghanistan while Thomas Friedman garnered the commentary prize for what the committee called "his clarity of vision" in his articles examining the worldwide impact of terrorism. And Gretchen Morgenson won the beat reporting Pulitzer for her coverage of Wall Street.

At the New York Times offices, Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. lead the staff in a moment of silence for those who died, after which Howell Raines, the executive editor, told the staff:

"In receiving these awards, we are ever mindful of the shattering events it was our task to record in our city, nation and world community. ... Together the staff of The Times created memorable, imperishable journalism. Your teamwork and dedication and the sacrifice of your family and loved ones have produced newspapers that served our readers and that will stand as a memorial to those who were lost."

Gerald Boyd, managing editor, said: "This is a day that few of us will soon forget and as I look across the newsroom and all of the smiling faces I can't help but think about our journalism. The news of last year tested our journalism as much as at any point in our history."

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer for breaking news coverage of the Sept. 11 attack and its aftermath.

The Washington Post's Sarah Cohen, Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz won the investigative reporting award for its exposé of the District of Columbia's role in the deaths of over 200 children placed in the city's protective care between 1993 and 2000, a series that prompted an overhaul of the district's welfare system.

The Post also won the national reporting award for its coverage of America's war on terrorism.

Washington Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie said, "I'm very happy because of the two pieces of journalism we won for (were) both public service." He said, "It's the public service kind of journalism that we are in business to do. The one story, holding the city responsible" for children under its care and "the other one, watching the federal government in the war on terrorism."

"It's that watchdog role that's so important..." he added.

The Los Angeles Times' Barry Siegel won for feature writing for what the committee called his "humane and haunting portrait of a man tried for negligence in the death of his son."

The LA Times's Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen won the editorial writing award for "their comprehensive and powerfully written editorials exploring the issues and dilemmas" of people who are homeless and mentally ill.

The Pulitzer for editorial cartooning was captured by Clay Bennett of the Christian Science Monitor.

Justin Davidson of the Long Island Newsday won the Pulitzer for criticism for his "coverage of classical music that captures its essence."

The prizes for Arts and Letters went to: Fiction: Empire Falls by Richard Russo; Drama: Top Dog/Underdog by Susan-Lori Parks; History: The Metaphyscial Club -- a story of ideas in America by Louis Menand; Biography: John Adams, by David McCullough; Poetry: Practical Gods by Carl Dennis; General non-fiction: Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution by Diane McWhorter; Music: Icefield by Henry Brant premiered by the San Francisco Symphony on Dec. 12, 2001.