VOICE ONE:
Every year, Pulitzer Prizes are given for the best newspaperreporting, books, drama, poetry and music in the United States.These awards for excellence were announced earlier this month. I’mSarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We tell about the Pulitzer Prize winners inour report today on the VOA Special English program, THIS ISAMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Columbia University in New York City has awarded Pulitzer Prizesevery year since Nineteen-Seventeen. The newspaper publisher JosephPulitzer established the prize. Mister Pulitzer was born in Hungaryin Eighteen-Forty-Seven. He moved to the United States and settledin Saint Louis, Missouri. He became a newspaper reporter.
Then he began buying newspapercompanies. In Eighteen-Eighty-Three, Joseph Pulitzer bought the NewYork World. He soon changed it into one of the most importantnewspapers in the United States. It sold more copies than any othernewspaper in the country.
Mister Pulitzer became very rich. He left two-million dollars toColumbia University when he died in Nineteen-Eleven. Part of themoney was to establish a graduate school of journalism to trainreporters. The rest of the money was to be used as prizes for thebest writing in the United States.
This year, Columbia University gave fourteen awards to newspapersand reporters for excellence in journalism during Two-Thousand-One.The judges also honored seven people for their work in the arts –for books, a play, poetry and music.
VOICE TWO:
The most important news event last year happened on Septembereleventh. On that day, Islamic militants attacked the United States.They crashed hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center in NewYork City and the Defense Department headquarters near Washington,D.C. Passengers on another hijacked plane apparently crashed theplane to prevent more destruction. The attacks killed aboutthree-thousand people.
Eight of the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to newspapers were forstories about the terrorist attacks and events that followed.Pulitzer officials said no other news event was ever so widelyrepresented in the competition. Unlike other years, all thejournalism winners were major newspapers.
VOICE ONE: The New York Times won a record seven Pulitzer Prizesfor its work last year. In the past, no newspaper has received morethan three of these awards in the same year. Six of the seven awardsinvolved the attacks and the United States-led war on terrorism inAfghanistan. For example, New York Times writers won the PulitzerPrize for explanatory writing. Their winning stories told aboutterrorists and their activities around the world.
The New York Times also won the public service award. The prizehonored a part of the newspaper called “A Nation Challenged.” Thesepages told what happened after the attacks. Every day, the sectioncontained a full page with short stories about the people who diedin the attacks. “A Nation Challenged” also reported the progress ofthe war on terrorism.
Barry Bearak of the New York Times won the internationalreporting prize. He was honored for his stories about conditions andlife in Afghanistan.New York Times writer Thomas L. Friedman won thePulitzer Prize for commentary — reports that express opinion.Mister Friedman wrote about the effects of the terrorist threat onthe world. Mister Friedman won two earlier Pulitzer Prizes for hisinternational reporting from the Middle East.
VOICE TWO:
Pictures in the New York Times also received awards. Itsphotographers won the Pulitzer Prize for pictures of news events inprogress. The winning pictures showed how the destruction of theWorld Trade Center affected New York City. Pulitzer Prize judgesalso honored New York Times photographers for feature pictures ofpeople in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The judges said the winningpictures showed the people’s suffering and their strength.
New York Times writer Gretchen Morgenson won the Pulitzer Prizefor reporting a very different subject. She was honored for herbusiness reporting. She told about stock market experts who adviseinvestors. Mizz Morgenson showed that some of these experts do notprovide complete and honest information to investors.
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VOICE ONE:
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times each won twoPulitzer Prizes for journalism. Bob Woodward and seven otherWashington Post writers won the national reporting prize. Theirstories explored the war on terrorism.
Three other Washington Post reporters shared a Pulitzer Prize.Scott Higham, Sari Horwitz and Sarah Cohen were honored forinvestigative reporting. They wrote about the deaths oftwo-hundred-twenty-nine children in the District of Columbia. Thechildren were under the legal protection of the city when they died.The reporters showed how courts and social agencies failed toprotect these children.
Barry Siegel of the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize forfeature writing. The Pulitzer judges praised his reporting about aman found guilty of carelessness that led to the death of his son.The man killed himself. Mister Siegel also wrote about the judge inthe case.
Editorials express a newspaper’s opinions on issues. Two LosAngeles Times writers, Alex Raksin and Bob Sipchen, wroteprize-winning editorials. They told about the problems facingmentally sick people who are homeless and live on the streets.
VOICE TWO:
The Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize for reportingevents as they are happening. Its award-winning story told about thedestruction of the World Trade Center. The attack also damaged theoffices of the Wall Street Journal across the street. Reporters hadto write about the events from a temporary headquarters. Thenewspaper still has not returned to its offices.
A cartoonist from the Christian Science Monitor in Boston,Massachusetts, won the Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning.Twenty drawings by Clay Bennett won for their social comment. Forexample, one drawing protests the heightened security measures thatfollowed the terrorist attacks.
Justin Davidson of Newsday in New York won the criticism prize.He was honored for his comments about ten classical music events.They included Metropolitan Opera productions and a New YorkPhilharmonic Orchestra concert. The concert was held to gain moneyfor the families of victims of the World Trade Center attack.
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VOICE ONE:
Columbia University also gave Pulitzer Prizes to honor a play,poetry, books, and music. Suzan-Lori Parks became the first AfricanAmerican woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Her play,”Topdog/Underdog”, is about the tense yet loving relationshipbetween two African American brothers who live together.Carl Denniswon the poetry award for “Practical Gods.” Mister Dennis is aprofessor at the State University of New York in Buffalo. Criticshave praised his work as wise and often deeply emotional.
David McCullough won the Pulitzer Prize for biography, the storyof a person’s life. His book, “John Adams”, tells about America’ssecond president. It describes the marriage of John and AbigailAdams. It also tells about Mister Adams’s great skills as adiplomat.
VOICE TWO:
Louis Menand won the Pulitzer Prize for history. His book iscalled “The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America.” Ittells about several young people in Cambridge, Massachusetts, whomet to discuss their ideas in Eighteen-Seventy-Two. The group didnot last long. But it established beliefs that guided Americans inthe early Twentieth Century.
A book by Richard Russo called “Empire Falls” won the PulitzerPrize for fiction. It is about a single father who operates aneating place in a town in Maine that used to have several factories.The town represents the hopes of its citizens.
Diane McWhorter won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.Her book tells about the civil rights movement in one city in theAmerican South. It is called “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama,the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.”
Henry Brant won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his composition,”Ice Field.” Mister Brant is a creator of Twentieth Century spatialmusic. In spatial music, performers are placed in different areas inthe theater. The work was performed for the first time by the SanFrancisco Symphony last December.
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VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced byCynthia Kirk. I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.