Pulitzer Prizes Awarded for Coverage of NSA Secrets and Boston Bombing

The Washington Post and Guardian US won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, among the most prestigious awards in journalism, for their articles based on National Security Agency documents leaked by the former government contractor Edward Snowden.

Through a series of reports that exposed the NSA’s widespread domestic surveillance program, The Post and Guardian US set off an international debate on the limits of government surveillance. The papers also came under heavy criticism by the American and British governments, with lawmakers accusing them of compromising national security. The Pulitzer board said that it gave the award for the “authoritative and insightful reports that helped the public understand how the disclosures fit into the larger framework of national security.”

David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, who was not a Pulitzer judge, said that the story was “the epitome of important reporting and the epitome of what public service in journalism is all about.”