Boston Globe wins Pulitzer for church abuse stories

NEW YORK -- The Boston Globe won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for "courageous, comprehensive coverage" of the priest sex abuse scandal that led to sweeping changes in the U.S. Roman Catholic church.

The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post each won three of journalism's most prestigious awards.

The feature writing Pulitzer went to the Los Angeles Times' Sonia Nazario for her stories about a Honduran boy's search for his mother, who had migrated to the United States. The series also resulted in the feature photography prize for the Times' Don Bartletti.

In a gathering at the Times building, Editor John Carroll reached Bartletti in the Iraqi desert, where he is on assignment.

"Thank you from halfway around the world," Bartletti said. "After a day in the apocalypse, hearing your applause from back home warms my heart in my little sleeping bag in the Iraqi desert."

Nazario said the "Enrique's Journey" story began with a conversation at her kitchen table with the Guatemalan woman who cleaned her house and told of her sadness at not being able to see her children back home.

She said she and Bartletti rode atop trains, and that the photographer jumped from car to car to get pictures.

National reporting

Alan Miller and Kevin Sack also of the Los Angeles paper won the national reporting award for their examination of a military aircraft, the Harrier, linked to the deaths of 45 pilots. The entry was submitted in two categories -- national reporting and investigation. It was a finalist for investigation and moved by the Pulitzer board to national reporting.

"We all know that the military is a risky endeavor, as is being seen now," Sack said. "It's a tribute to pilots who lost their lives in the Harrier and those who are still flying it in Iraq and elsewhere," Miller said.

The international reporting award went to the Post's Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan, a married couple, for stories on Mexico's criminal justice system. Colbert I. King won for commentary for his columns "that speak to people in power with ferocity and wisdom." And Stephen Hunter won the criticism Pulitzer for his "authoritative film criticism that is both intellectually rewarding and a pleasure to read." The last film critic to win was the Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert in 1975.

In the Post newsroom, Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. called for a moment of silence to honor Post columnist Michael Kelly and NBC News reporter David Bloom, both killed in Iraq. "Their deaths remind us of the commitment and sacrifices being made," he said.

The Globe's public service award was its 17th Pulitzer overall and third in that category. In awarding the prize, the Pulitzer board cited the paper's "courageous, comprehensive coverage of sexual abuse by priests, an effort that pierced secrecy, stirred local national and international reaction and produced changes in the Roman Catholic Church."

"You made history this past year. And you made the world a better and safer, and more humane place," Globe Editor Martin Baron told a packed newsroom.

"Reporters and editors who worked on this story were motivated by a passion to get at the truth," he said. "They overcame every obstacle with patience, ingenuity and endless drive."

For breaking news, the staff of The Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Mass., won for stories on the accidental drownings of four boys in the Merrimack River. It was the 60,000-circulation newspaper's second Pulitzer; it also won in 1988.

Metro Editor Gretchen Putnam was getting ready for the staff Christmas party at her house on Dec. 14 when she received news of the tragedy. She left a note on the door telling editors and reporters to join her in the newsroom.

"I think what set us apart is that we didn't just report this as a tragedy," she said. "We told the story of these little boys who were heroes."

The paper said will donate its prize money to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lawrence and to a fund set up in memory of the four boys. The staff observed a moment of silence in their memory.

The Wall Street Journal staff won for explanatory reporting for stories the judges said brought to light "the roots, significance and impact of corporate scandals in America."

Managing Editor Paul Steiger said the award, the Journal's 27th Pulitzer, meant more to the paper because it was focused on corporations that are the heart of the newspaper's coverage. "This was particularly sweet because it is the core thing that we do," he said.

Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes, said the Pulitzer board was struck by "the way so many newspapers went after malfeasance and corruption," calling it "a return to the watchdog."

Clifford J. Levy of The New York Times won the investigative reporting prize for a series on the abuse of mentally ill adults in New York State-regulated homes.

Health reporter Diana K. Sugg of The (Baltimore) Sun won for beat reporting. Her entry included a story about the prevalence of stillbirth in seemingly routine pregnancies and a piece that examined what happened when health care workers allowed families into the emergency room during resuscitation efforts for their loved ones.

Sugg, who suffers seizures and other health problems, took two months of medical leave herself last year.

"Those stories were really born in my heart and I'll never forget those people," she tearfully told colleagues. "They're almost like angels or ghosts or prophets bringing back dispatches from the front lines of life."

It was the Sun's 15th Pulitzer.

Cornelia Grumman of the Chicago Tribune won the editorial prize for columns against the death penalty. She praised three Tribune investigative reporters who spent years uncovering problems in the state's death penalty system. "They laid the groundwork for reform in Illinois, and I was just kind of making the argument," she said.

The editorial cartooning award went to David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for work "executed with a distinctive style and sense of humor." It was the newspaper's second Pulitzer; its first was won by Horsey in 1999.

"Just like in '99, I owed it all to Bill Clinton, so maybe this time it's all W," he said, referring to President Bush.

The photography staff of the Rocky Mountain News of Denver won the breaking news photography award for coverage of Colorado's forest fires. The same staff won in 2000 for its coverage of the Columbine High School shootings.

Janet Reeves, photography director, said many News staffers gave up personal time and canceled vacations to cover the fires. "They would work tirelessly," she said. "They just didn't stop pushing."

The prizes are awarded by Columbia University on recommendations of the Pulitzer board, which considers nominations from jurors in each category. Each prize is worth $7,500, except for public service, in which a paper receives a gold medal.

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