New York Times wins record seven Pulitzers

NEW YORK -- The New York Times won a record seven Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, including the public service award for "A Nation Challenged," a daily stand-alone section on the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Afghanistan.

The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times each won two of American journalism's most prestigious awards in a year when eight of the 14 prizes went to coverage of the attacks and their aftermath.

No other single news event had such widespread representation in the 85-year history of the awards, said Seymour Topping, the prizes' administrator. The most Pulitzers won by one publication in any previous year was three, a feat accomplished by several newspapers, he said.

After the 2002 awards were announced, hundreds of New York Times staffers gathered in the newsroom. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. called for a moment of silence in memory of those who died in the attacks and those, such as Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who died later.

In awarding the public service prize, the Pulitzer Board said the Times "coherently and comprehensively covered the tragic events, profiled the victims and tracked the developing story, locally and globally."

'A difficult year for us'

In breaking news reporting, the staff of The Wall Street Journal won for its coverage of the attacks on the World Trade Center under the most difficult of circumstances, when the newsroom -- in the shadows of the twin towers -- was evacuated.

Jim Pensiero, vice president of the Journal, was subdued about the award, which followed the Jan. 23 abduction and subsequent slaying of Pearl in Pakistan.

"We were across the street from the trade center. We're still not back in our offices, and in covering the story one of our reporters was murdered," he said. "A lot of lives were disrupted. We at the Journal suffered a lot less than people in the trade center itself, but it's been a disruption and a difficult year for us. It's very nice to be recognized in the industry."

The staff of The New York Times won the explanatory reporting award for its coverage before and after the Sept. 11 attacks that profiled the global terrorism network and the threats it posed.

'Didn't spare a nickel'

In international reporting, Barry Bearak of the Times won for what the Pulitzer Board called his "deeply affecting and illuminating coverage" of daily life in war-torn Afghanistan.

"It takes an extraordinary amount of money to cover the news, and this story was an expensive one," Bearak said. "And the Times didn't spare a nickel."

In commentary, the Times' Thomas Friedman won for his columns on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat.

For beat reporting, Gretchen Morgenson of the Times won for her coverage of Wall Street that the judges called "trenchant and incisive."

For national reporting, the staff of The Washington Post won for comprehensive coverage of the war on terrorism.

Each award is worth $7,500, except for public service, in which a gold medal is given to the paper.