Pulitzer honors go to 2 exposés

NEW YORK - Two newspapers hit hard by a historic downturn won Pulitzer Prizes yesterday for exposing sex scandals that brought down a governor and a big-city mayor, in what was hailed as a victory for old-fashioned watchdog journalism at a time when the industry's very survival is in question.

The New York Times received five Pulitzers in all, including a breaking-news award for being the first to report that Gov. Eliot Spitzer was a client of a high-priced call-girl ring - a discovery that led to his resignation. The Detroit Free Press won in local reporting for exposing steamy text messages that destroyed Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's political career.

Three Pulitzers were awarded for coverage of Barack Obama's historic election. But in a surprising turn, not one prize was handed out for the other big story of 2008 - the financial meltdown. Some suggested that could be a criticism of the press for not sounding enough of a warning before the crisis.

Staffers at The Inquirer were finalists in two Pulitzer categories. In national reporting, staff writers John Shiffman, John Sullivan, and Tom Avril were recognized for "Smoke and Mirrors: The Subversion of the EPA," their series on how political interests had eroded the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency and jeopardized the environment. Inga Saffron was a finalist for the third time in the criticism category, cited for "her fascinating and convincing architectural critiques that boldly confront important topics."

The Pulitzers were announced after one of the newspaper industry's most depressing years, with layoffs, bankruptcies and closings, and an exodus of readers and advertisers to the Internet. One of yesterday's winners, a reporter in Arizona, was laid off a few months ago.

Despite a rule change that allowed online-only news organizations to compete for Pulitzers this year for the first time, none of the 65 entries won any prizes. However, the Pulitzer Board said online content played a role in several of the winning entries.

The Detroit paper less than a month ago cut back home delivery to three days a week. And the Times' Metro staff that broke the Spitzer story has since been cut back, with Metro now folded into the main news section of the paper six days a week.

Besides the Detroit paper, the judges awarded a second Pulitzer in local reporting, honoring the East Valley Tribune of Mesa, Ariz., for revealing how a sheriff's focus on immigration enforcement endangered investigations of other crimes. Paul Giblin, one of the reporters on the series, was laid off in January.

The Pulitzers, journalism's most prestigious awards, are given out by Columbia University on the recommendation of a 19-person board. Each award carries a $10,000 prize, except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.

In the arts categories, stories of race and gender prevailed this year, with Ruined, playwright Lynn Nottage's harrowing tale of survival set against the backdrop of an African civil war, winning the Pulitzer for drama, and books about slavery, civil rights, and Andrew Jackson also honored.

The other Pulitzer winners yesterday were:

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