The Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting has been awarded since 1948 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
List of winners and their official citations
1948:Nat S. Finney, Minneapolis Tribune, "for his stories on the plan of the Truman administration to impose secrecy about the ordinary affairs of federal civilian agencies in peacetime."
1955:Anthony Lewis of Washington Daily News, "for publishing a series of articles which were adjudged directly responsible for clearing Abraham Chasanow, an employee of the U.S. Navy Department, and bringing about his restoration to duty with an acknowledgment by the Navy Department that it had committed a grave injustice in dismissing him as a security risk. Mr. Lewis received the full support of his newspaper in championing an American citizen, without adequate funds or resources for his defense, against an unjust act by a government department."
1957:James Reston, The New York Times, "for his distinguished national correspondence, including both news dispatches and interpretive reporting, an outstanding example of which was his five-part analysis of the effect of President Eisenhower's illness on the functioning of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government."
1959:Howard Van Smith, Miami News, "for a series of articles that focused public notice on deplorable conditions in a Florida migrant labor camp, resulted in the provision of generous assistance for the 4,000 stranded workers in the camp, and thereby called attention to the national problem presented by 1,500,000 migratory laborers."
1961:Edward R. Cony, Wall Street Journal, "for his analysis of a timber transaction which drew the attention of the public to the problems of business ethics."
1963:Anthony Lewis, New York Times, "for his distinguished reporting of the proceedings of the United States Supreme Court during the year, with particular emphasis on the coverage of the decision in the reapportionment case and its consequences in many of the States of the Union."
1986:Arthur Howe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "for his enterprising and indefatigable reporting on massive deficiencies in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) processing of tax returns-reporting that eventually inspired major changes in IRS procedures and prompted the agency to make a public apology to U.S. taxpayers."
1989:Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, The Philadelphia Inquirer, "for their 15-month investigation of "rifle shot" provisions in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a series that aroused such widespread public indignation that Congress subsequently rejected proposals giving special tax breaks to many politically connected individuals and businesses."
1994:Eileen Welsome, Albuquerque Tribune, "for stories that related the experiences of American civilians who had been used unknowingly in government plutonium experiments nearly 50 years ago."
1997: Staff of The Wall Street Journal, "for its coverage of the struggle against AIDS in all of its aspects, the human, the scientific and the business, in light of promising treatments for the disease."
1999: Staff of The New York Times, and notably Jeff Gerth, "for a series of articles that disclosed the corporate sale of American technology to China, with U.S. government approval despite national security risks, prompting investigations and significant changes in policy."
2000: Staff of The Wall Street Journal, "for its revealing stories that question U.S. defense spending and military deployment in the post-Cold War era and offer alternatives for the future."
2001:The New York Times staff, "for its compelling and memorable series exploring racial experiences and attitudes across contemporary America."
2002:The Washington Post staff, "for its comprehensive coverage of America's War on Terrorism, which regularly brought forth new information together with skilled analysis of unfolding developments."
2003:Alan Miller and Kevin Sack, Los Angeles Times, "for their revelatory and moving examination of a military aircraft, nicknamed 'The Widow Maker,' that was linked to the deaths of 45 pilots." (This was also nominated in the Investigative Reporting category.)
2004: Staff of Los Angeles Times, Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani, Abigail Goldman, Tyler Marshall, Rick Wartzman and John Corrigan, "for its engrossing examination of the tactics that have made Wal-Mart the largest company in the world with cascading effects across American towns and developing countries."
2005:Walt Bogdanich of New York Times, "for his heavily documented stories about the corporate cover-up of responsibility for fatal accidents at railway crossings."
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