Pulitzers awarded: Washington Post gets six

updated 6:07 p.m. ET April 7, 2008

NEW YORK - The Washington Post won six Pulitzer Prizes on Monday — the most in its history — including awards for its coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre and a series exposing shoddy treatment of America's war wounded at Walter Reed hospital.

The New York Times received two Pulitzers: one for investigative reporting, for stories on toxic ingredients in medicine and other products from China, and one for explanatory reporting, for examining the ethical issues surrounding DNA testing.

Previously, the Post won as many as four Pulitzers in a single year, in 2006. The record is seven, won by the Times in 2002, mostly for its coverage of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Cheers erupted in the Post newsroom when the prizes were announced. Like many newspapers, the Post is struggling mightily with falling circulation and advertising revenue. It is going through its third round of employee buyouts since 2003.

"This is actually a boost to remind people that we can produce this kind of journalism at any time," said Post Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. "We're going to have a large enough newsroom to continue to produce this kind of quality journalism."

In addition to the public service medal for the Walter Reed expose and the breaking-news award for Virginia Tech, the Post also won for:

• National reporting, for its exploration of Vice President Cheney's backstage influence;
• International reporting, for a series on how private security contractors in Iraq operate outside the laws governing U.S. forces;
• Feature writing, for Gene Weingarten's story on a world-class violinist who, in an experiment, played in a subway station to gauge commuters' reaction;
• Commentary, for Steven Pearlstein's columns on the nation's economic problems.

Other winners
The Chicago Tribune also won in the investigative reporting category, for stories exposing faulty government regulation that resulted in recalls of car seats, toys and cribs.

The Pulitzer for local reporting went to David Umhoefer of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for stories on how county employees' pensions were padded.

Michael Ramirez of Investor's Business Daily won in the editorial cartooning category.

Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe was honored in the criticism category for his observations on movies, photography and painting.

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