Pulitzer Prizes honor coverage of Russia's war in Ukraine
May 8, 2023
The Associated Press and the New York Times were both awarded for their coverage of of the war in Ukraine. The awards are the US' most prestigious journalism prizes.
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Columbia University announced on Monday its Pulitzer Prizes, recognizing the best of journalism and the arts in 2023.
The Associated Press (AP) news agency won two Pulitzer Prizes, in public service and breaking news photography, for coverage of Moscow's war in Ukraine. The agency's startling images of Russia's siege of Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine, were honored.
The prize for international reporting went to the New York Times, for its coverage of Russian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
"AP journalists have done courageous and important work in Ukraine throughout the war, shining a spotlight in particular on the human toll of the conflict," AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace said.
"From dispelling Russian misinformation to contributing to the creation of a humanitarian corridor, their work has been an incredible public service and we're so pleased that it has been honored by the Pulitzer board," she added.
Siege of Mariupol image wins World Press Photo of the Year
The haunting photo embodies the horrors of the war in Ukraine. The global World Press Photo winners highlight pressing issues, such as the climate crisis or the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Image: Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press
Photo of the Year: 'The Siege of Mariupol'
Tens of thousands of civilians were injured, killed or had to flee the port city of Mariupol when it became one of Russia's targets in Ukraine. The jury selected Evgeniy Maloletka's photo showing an injured pregnant woman carried from a bombed maternity hospital, as it embodies the horrors of war for the Ukrainian population. The baby was stillborn, and half an hour later the mother died as well.
Image: Evgeniy Maloletka, Associated Press
Story of the Year: 'The Price of Peace in Afghanistan'
In his series of nine haunting photos, Mads Nissen portrays the dire situation of the Afghan people, now living under the Taliban, and with a lack of international aid. In this one, Khalil Ahmad, 15, shows a traumatic scar: His parents sold their son's kidney to feed their 11 children. The family was paid an amount that would have taken the father years to earn — if there was even work for him.
Image: Mads Nissen/Politiken/Panos Pictures
Long-Term Project Award: 'Battered Waters'
Photographer Anush Babajanyan spent four years documenting the impact of the climate crisis and poor water management in four former Soviet countries in Central Asia: Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The Aral Sea, formerly the fourth largest lake in world, has lost 90% of its waters. This hot spring emerged on the former bed of the basin.
Image: Anush Babajanyan/VII Photo_National Geographic Society
Open Format Award: 'Here, the Doors Don't Know Me'
The district of El Max, in Alexandria, Egypt, has a long tradition as a fishing village. But its residents are being resettled due to rising sea levels and real estate investments. Photographer Mohamed Mahdy is collaborating with the locals to preserve the memory of their home, creating an interactive website with contributions from the community.
Image: Mohamed Mahdy
4 global winners among regional selection
The four global winners of the World Press Photo awards were selected among 24 previously revealed regional winners, including this story by Alessandro Cinque, titled "Alpaqueros," the name of farmers in Peru who live by raising alpacas. The animals are very sensitive to heat; as a result of the climate crisis, alapacas are dying, wreaking havoc on the communities.
Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post was awarded the national reporting Pulitzer for her work on the fallout of the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year by the Supreme Court which has led to numerous abortion bans across the US.
The prize for commentary was given to Kyle Whitmire of AL.com from Birmingham, Alabama.
Whitmire won the award "For measured and persuasive columns that document how Alabama's Confederate heritage still colors the present with racism and exclusion, told through tours of its first capital, its mansions and monuments–and through the history that has been omitted," according to the Pulitzer website.
Among the non-journalism prizes, the books "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver and "Trust" by Hernan Diaz won the awards for fiction writing.
All winners are given $15,000 (€13,600) apart from the winner of the public service prize, who receives a gold medal.
The annual Pulitzers are considered the most prestigious honors in US journalism. The prizes were first presented in 1917.