The 2016 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced this afternoon in a press conference that was broadcast live on Facebook.
The New Yorker, which, as a magazine, was newly eligible for the certain categories, won two awards. Staff writer Kathryn Schulz took the prize in feature writing for her story on the cataclysmic earthquake that threatens to destroy the Pacific Northwest, and television critic Emily Nussbaum won for criticism. A third award for a New Yorker writer went to William Finnegan, whose memoir about surfing, which was published last summer, won the prize for biography.
The Associated Press won in the prize in the public service category for an investigative series that exposed slavery and labor abuses in the seafood industry. The wire service’s reporting freed 2,000 slaves and inspired industry reform. The New York Times‘s Alissa J. Rubin took the International Reporting prize. The Los Angeles Times won the award for breaking news for its coverage of the San Bernardino shooting and subsequent terror investigation.
As leaked this morning, the staff of The Washington Post won in the national reporting category for “Fatal Force,” a multimedia project that created a database of deadly police violence. At least the newsroom had time to stock up on champagne.
Even less surprisingly, Hamilton won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, meaning that anyone who hasn’t yet seen it never will.
For a full list of winners of the 2016 Pulitzer Prizes, click here.
