The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting is a Pulitzer Prize awarded for a distinguished example of breaking news, local reporting on news of the moment. It has been awarded since 1953 under several names:
From 1953 to 1963: Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, Edition Time
From 1964 to 1984: Pulitzer Prize for Local General or Spot News Reporting
From 1985 to 1990: Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting
From 1991 to 1997: Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting
From 1998 to present: Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting
Prior to 1953, a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting combined both breaking and investigative reporting under one category. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
List of winners for Pulitzer Prize for General News Reporting
1985: Thomas Turcol of the Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star, (Norfolk, Va.) "for City Hall coverage which exposed the corruption of a local economic development official."
1986: Edna Buchanan of the Miami Herald, "for her versatile and consistently excellent police beat reporting."
1987: Staff of the Akron Beacon Journal, "for its coverage, under deadline pressure, of the attempted takeover of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. by a European financier."
1988: Staff of the Alabama Journal (Montgomery), "for its compelling investigation of the state's unusually high infant-mortality rate, which prompted legislation to combat the problem."
1988: Staff of Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, "for an investigation that revealed serious flaws in the Massachusetts prison furlough system and led to significant statewide reforms."
1989: Staff of Louisville Courier-Journal, "for its exemplary initial coverage of a bus crash that claimed 27 lives and its subsequent thorough and effective examination of the causes and implications of the tragedy."
List of winners for Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting
1991: Staff of the Miami Herald, "for stories profiling a local cult leader, his followers, and their links to several area murders."
1992: Staff of Newsday, "for coverage of a midnight subway derailment in Manhattan that left five passengers dead and more than 200 injured."
1993: Staff of the Los Angeles Times, "for comprehensive, penetrating coverage under deadline pressure of the second, most destructive day of the Los Angeles riots."
1995: Staff of the Los Angeles Times, "for its reporting on January 17, 1994, of the chaos and devastation in the aftermath of the Northridge earthquake."
2005: Staff of the Star-Ledger, "for its comprehensive, clear-headed coverage of the resignation of New Jersey'sgovernor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover."
2006: Staff of the Times-Picayune, "for its courageous and aggressive coverage of Hurricane Katrina, overcoming desperate conditions facing the city and the newspaper."
2008: Staff of The Washington Post, "For its exceptional, multi-faceted coverage of the deadly shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, telling the developing story in print and online."