THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100393
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism Tuesday for stories on the environmental and health risks of waste disposal in hog farming.
The New York Times won three Pulitzers and Newsday won two. The Associated Press won for spot news photography for a photo taken by a freelancer of an infant being cradled by a firefighter after the Oklahoma City bombing.
``I'm honored to win, but this is not necessarily the time for parties and celebrations and champagne bottles,'' said Charles Porter IV, a 26-year-old bank employee whose photo was distributed by the AP.
``I'm torn because of the picture. I don't want to lose sight of the fact that this picture represents anyone and everyone who was involved in this tragedy.''
A special award was given to Herb Caen, the San Francisco Chronicle columnist, for what the Pulitzer board described as ``his extraordinary and continuing contribution as a voice and a conscience of his city.''
The prizes, the most prestigious awards given for journalism, are presented annually by Columbia University. Prizes include an award of $3,000, except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.
The News & Observer was honored for its series it called ``Boss Hog.'' The five-part report showed that hog lagoons, a common practice for storing hog waste, posed an environmental danger to water and air quality.
The series documented the political connections between powerful industry leaders and state politicians and regulators. It resulted in the first proposals for serious regulation of the industry in the state, including the first comprehensive inspections of North Carolina hog farms.
The prize for spot news reporting went to Robert D. McFadden of The New York Times for writing and reporting on a variety of stories on deadline.
The staff of The Orange County (Calif.) Register won for investigative reporting for stories that uncovered fraud in a fertility clinic.
The award for explanatory journalism was won by Laurie Garrett of Newsday for her reporting from Zaire on the Ebola virus outbreak. Another Newsday reporter, Bob Keeler, won the beat reporting prize for his portrait of a progressive local Roman Catholic parish.
The national reporting prize went to Alix M. Freedman of The Wall Street Journal for her coverage of the tobacco industry, including a report that showed how ammonia additives heightened nicotine potency.
David Rohde of The Christian Science Monitor won the international reporting award for his reports on the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica.
The feature writing prize went to Rick Bragg of The New York Times for his stories about contemporary America, and E.R. Shipp of the New York Daily News won the commentary award for her columns on race, welfare and other social issues.
The criticism prize was awarded to Robert Campbell of The Boston Globe for his writing on architecture, and the editorial writing prize went to Robert B. Semple Jr. of The New York Times for his editorials on environmental issues. Jim Morin of The Miami Herald won the editorial cartooning Pulitzer.
Stephanie Welsh, a freelancer, won the feature photography prize for a sequence of photos of a female circumcision rite in Kenya. The photos were distributed by Newhouse News Service. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Charles Porter IV, a freelancer whose photo was distributed by the
Associated Press, won the Pulitzer Prize for spot news photography
for his picture of an infant being cradled by a firefighter after
the Oklahoma City bombing.
Graphic
1996 Pulitzer Prize Winners
JOURNALISM
Public service - The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
Spot news reporting - Robert D. McFadden of The New York Times
Investigative reporting - The Orange County (Calif.) Register
staff
Explanatory journalism - Laurie Garrett of Newsday
Beat reporting - Bob Keeler of Newsday
National reporting - Alix M. Freedman of The Wall Street Journal
International reporting - David Rohde of The Christian Science
Monitor
Feature writing - Rick Bragg of The New York Times
Commentary - E.R. Shipp of the New York Daily News
Criticism - Robert Campbell of The Boston Globe
Editorial writing - Robert B. Semple Jr. of The New York Times
Editorial cartooning - Jim Morin of The Miami Herald
Spot news photography - Charles Porter IV, freelance, distributed
by The Associated Press
Feature photography - Stephanie Welsh, freelance, distributed by
Newhouse News Service
Special award - Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle
ARTS
Fiction - ``Independence Day'' by Richard Ford
Drama - ``Rent'' by Jonathan Larson
History - ``William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the
Frontier of the Early American Republic'' by Alan Taylor
Biography - ``God: A Biography'' by Jack Miles
Poetry - ``The Dream of the Unified Field'' by Jorie Graham
General nonfiction - ``The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts
After Communism'' by Tina Rosenberg
Music - ``Lilacs'' by George Walker
KEYWORDS: PULITZER PRIZE WINNERS 1996 by CNB