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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Today we tell about the Pulitzer Prizes.These important yearly awards honor the best in American newspaperreporting, books and the arts.

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VOICE ONE:

JosephPulitzer

Columbia University in New YorkCity has awarded the Pulitzer Prizes since nineteen-seventeen. Thenewspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer established the prize. MisterPulitzer was born in Hungary in eighteen-forty-seven. He moved tothe United States and settled in Saint Louis, Missouri. He became anewspaper reporter.

In eighteen-eighty-three, Joseph Pulitzer bought the New YorkWorld. Soon it sold more copies than any other newspaper in thecountry.

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Mister Pulitzer died in nineteen-eleven. He left two-milliondollars to Columbia University. Part of this money was to establisha graduate school of journalism to train reporters. He wanted therest of the money to be used as prizes for the best writing in theUnited States.

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Each year, judges from around thecountry choose the best American journalism. They also recognize thebest books, drama, poetry and music. This year's winners wereannounced two weeks ago. They were honored for work done duringtwo-thousand-three.

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Anthony Shadid of the Washington Post newspaper was in Baghdad,Iraq when he heard that he had won a Pulitzer Prize. Mister Shadidwon the international reporting award for his work in Iraq before,during and after the war. The Pulitzer Prize judges praised hisability to describe the conditions and feelings of Iraqis. Theynoted that he did so while he himself was in danger.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper, in California, won five PulitzerPrizes. That was the second largest number ever won by a newspaper.The New York Times holds the record for Pulitzer Prizes. It wonseven of these awards in two-thousand-two. The awards mainly honoredreporting about the attacks against the United States on Septembereleventh, two-thousand-one.

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More than ninety reporters at the Los Angeles Times earned aPulitzer Prize for timely news reporting. Their stories were aboutwildfires that struck a large area of southern California last year.The deadly fires caused millions of dollars in damage.

The Los Angeles Times also won the Pulitzer Prize for nationalreporting. Four of its reporters wrote about Wal-Mart. This companyhas become the largest in the world. Its stores sell many kinds ofgoods at reduced prices. The stories told about Wal-Mart's effectson American communities and developing nations. Abigail Goldman,Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani and Tyler Marshall wrote the stories.

VOICE ONE:Los Angeles Times writer Daniel Neil became the firstautomobile writer ever to win the Pulitzer Prize for criticism. Hewas honored for his reporting and commentary about cars. Pulitzerofficials said Mister Neil's stories made interesting observationsabout human nature and American culture.

William Stall of the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize foreditorial writing. Mister Stall writes opinion pieces for thenewspaper. His work included editorials about the problems of thestate government of California. Mister Stall also proposed possiblesolutions. His editorials appeared after California voters removedformer Governor Gray Davis from office and replaced him with currentGovernor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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Pictures of the war in Liberia earned the feature photographyprize for Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times. Mizz Cole'sphotographs especially showed the suffering of innocent civilians.

Photography during armed conflict also brought a Pulitzer Prizeto David Leeson and Cheryl Diaz Meyer. They work for the DallasMorning News in Texas. Judges honored them for pictures they tookduring the war in Iraq. The judges said they succeeded in capturingboth the war's violence and sadness.

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The Wall Street Journal newspaper in New York City won twoPulitzer Prizes. The judges honored Wall Street Journal reportersKevin Helliker and Thomas M. Burton. They won the Pulitzer Prize forexplanatory reporting. They wrote ten stories explaining aneurysms.A problem in a blood vessel wall causes this serious medicalcondition. Last year, many Americans suffered from aneurysms 鈥?including reporter Kevin Helliker. He survived the sometimes deadlyproblem to write about it.

Education writer Daniel Golden of the Wall Street Journal won thePulitzer Prize for continued excellent reporting about one subject.Mister Golden told how some American colleges choose students. Hereported that these colleges are more likely to accept studentswhose parents graduated from the college. He also wrote that thechildren of people who give money to the colleges are also morelikely to be accepted.

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The New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for public service.Reporters David Barstow and Lowell Bergman told of harmfulconditions in the nation's factories. Their stories showed how someemployers violated safety rules. The reporters said the employersdid not fear punishment for violations that led to deaths andinjuries. The newspaper and Times Television cooperated withAmerican and Canadian public television for one series of stories onthe subject. It was called "Dangerous Business." Mister Bergmanwrote a second series called "When Workers Die."

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Three writers for The Blade newspaper in Toledo, Ohio wereawarded Pulitzer Prizes for investigative reporting. Mitch Weiss,Michael D. Sallah and Joe Mahr wrote about a United States Armygroup during the Vietnam War. They produced evidence that some TigerForce members killed many unarmed civilians during that war.

Leonard Pitts won the commentary prize. He was honored for hisstories in the Miami Herald newspaper in Florida. Mister Pitts wroteabout subjects including marriages between people of the same sexand rap music.

Matt Davies of The Journal News in White Plains, New York washonored for his editorial cartoon drawings. Mister Davies' winningdrawings targeted political events.For the first time, no PulitzerPrize was awarded for feature writing this year. The judges couldnot agree on a winner.

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Judges for the Pulitzer Prize gave seven awards for the arts.Anne Applebaum won for a general nonfiction book. Her book is called"Gulag: A History. " It tells about punishment labor camps in theformer Soviet Union.

William Taubman also wrote about the former Soviet Union. Hisbook, "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era" tells about former Sovietleader Nikita Khrushchev. It won the Pulitzer Prize for biography, abook about someone's life. Mister Taubman spent twenty yearsresearching and writing the book.

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Edward P. Jones was honored for his book, "The Known World." Itwon the Pulitzer Prize for a work of fiction. The book tells a storyabout a black man who owned slaves in the southern United States.

A nonfiction book about African American life in the UnitedStates won the Pulitzer Prize for history. Steven Hahn wrote "ANation Under Our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural Southfrom Slavery to the Great Migration."

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Musician Paul Moravec won for his composition called "TempestFantasy." Mister Moravec says his instrumental chamber piece islinked to William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest." Mister Moraveccreates tonal music 鈥?music with traditional melody.

Doug Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play, "I AmMy Own Wife." In this unusual drama, one actor takes the part ofmore than thirty-six people. It is playing on Broadway in New YorkCity. One critic said the play should receive every prize thatexists.

Franz Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for hiscollection, "Walking to Martha's Vineyard." Martha's Vineyard is anisland in the Atlantic Ocean near the state of Massachusetts. MisterWright's father, James Wright, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry innineteen-seventy-two.

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VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Doug Johnson. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICAin VOA Special English.