Pulitzer Prize winners

The Washington Post won six Pulitzer Prizes, including the prestigious Public Service award, for its reporting on conditions of US war veterans at America's flagship military hospital.

The Pulitzer Prize board said the Post won for "exposing the mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital, evoking a national outcry and producing reforms by federal officials."

"It's the greatest honour," said Anne Hull, whose work with her colleagues Dana Priest and Michel du Cille won the Public Service prize for the newspaper, part of the Washington Post Co. media group.

"We just couldn't let up if we wanted because the first story triggered an avalanche of outcry from wounded soldiers and their spouses and family and it was really them riding us that kept us following the story," she said.

The 92nd annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music were announced at Columbia University in New York City. The Public Service winner receives a gold medal, and winners in the remaining 20 categories receive $10,000 each.

The Washington Post also won Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of the deadly Virginia Tech college shooting rampage and National Reporting for an exploration of US Vice-President Dick Cheney's influence on national policy.

The newspaper won for International Reporting for a series on private security contractors in Iraq operating outside most of the laws governing US forces, Feature Writing for a story on a world-class violinist who played in a subway station as an experiment, and Commentary for columns exploring America's "complex economic ills with masterful clarity".

Reuters news agency won its first Pulitzer Prize, taking the Breaking News Photography category for a picture of a Japanese videographer killed during a demonstration in Myanmar. The picture was taken by photographer Adrees Latif.

On assignment in Nepal to cover elections, Mr Latif said he was happy to win the prize for Reuters, but also wanted to take a moment to remember Kenji Nagai, the fellow journalist whose picture he took in his final moments of life.

"I'm just really happy that this stands in history and that it reminds people what happened on that day," he said by telephone.

Reuters is part of the London-based global news and data company Reuters Group Plc.

The New York Times won in the Explanatory Reporting Category for examining dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany DNA testing, and in Investigative Reporting for stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China.

The Chicago Tribune won for Investigative Reporting for its exposure of faulty government regulation of toys, car seats and cribs.

The Concord Monitor in New Hampshire won in Feature Photography for chronicling a family coping with a parent's terminal illness, and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel won the Local Reporting award for stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad pensions of county employees.

The Boston Globe won for Criticism of the Visual Arts and Investor's Business Daily won for Editorial Cartooning. No award was given in the category of Editorial Writing.

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was given a special citation for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power".

The Fiction prize went to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, while August: Osage County by Tracy Letts won the Drama category, What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe won the History section, and Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson won the Biography category.

Factbox: Winners of the 92nd annual Pulitzer Prizes

The following is a list of the winners of the 92nd annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music.

Public Service: The Washington Post staff for exposing mistreatment of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Hospital, evoking a national outcry and producing reforms.

Breaking News Reporting: The Washington Post staff for coverage of the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.

Investigative Reporting: The New York Times' Walt Bogdanich and Jake Hooker for stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products imported from China, and to the Chicago Tribune staff for exposing faulty governmental regulation of toys, car seats and cribs.

Explanatory Reporting: The New York Times' Amy Harmon for her examination of the dilemmas and ethical issues that accompany DNA testing.

Local Reporting: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's David Umhoefer for stories on the skirting of tax laws to pad pensions of county employees.

National Reporting: The Washington Post's Jo Becker and Barton Gellman for writing about Vice-President Dick Cheney and his powerful yet sometimes disguised influence on national policy.

International Reporting: The Washington Post's Steve Fainaru for his series on private security contractors in Iraq.

Features Writing: The Washington Post's Gene Weingarten for a story about a world-class violinist who played beautiful music in a subway station filled with unheeding commuters.

Commentary: The Washington Post's Steven Pearlstein for his insightful columns that explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity.

Criticism: The Boston Globe's Mark Feeney for his versatile command of the visual arts.

Editorial Writing: No award.

Editorial Cartooning: Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily for his provocative cartoons.

Breaking News Photography: Reuters' Adrees Latif for his photograph of a Japanese videographer, sprawled on the pavement, fatally wounded during a demonstration in Myanmar.

Feature Photography: The Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor's Preston Gannaway for her chronicle of a family coping with a parent's terminal illness.

Fiction: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead Books).

Drama: August: Osage County by Tracy Letts.

History: What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe (Oxford University Press).

Biography or Autobiography: Eden's Outcasts by John Matteson (W.W. Norton).

Poetry: Time and Materials by Robert Hass (Ecco/HarperCollins)

General Non-Fiction: The Years of Extermination by Saul Friedlander (HarperCollins)

Music: The Little Match Girl Passion by David Lang (G. Schirmer)

Special Citation: Bob Dylan for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.