Pulitzers Are Pointless

Huffington Post, AP, Philadelphia Inquirer , NYT all score prizes

(NEWSER) - The 2012 Pulitzer Prizes are out, and for the first time in 35 years a Pulitzer for fiction is not among them, reports the AP , which itself snagged an award for its series on NYPD spying. Without further ado, the list of winners:

• Public service: Philadelphia Inquirer
• Breaking news reporting: The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News staff
• Investigative reporting: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of the AP, and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of the Seattle Times
• Explanatory reporting: David Kocieniewski of the New York Times

2011 prizes announced today in New York

(NEWSER) - The Los Angeles Times took home the coveted public service Pulitzer Prize this afternoon for its exposé of widepsread corruption in the city of Bell, Calif. The piece eventually led to the arrests of eight city officials, including the city administrator, who was pulling down $800,000 a year. The Times took home a second Pulizter for feature photography. A look at some of the other winners:

• Investigative reporting: Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune
• Explanatory reporting: Mark Johnson, Kathleen Gallagher, Gary Porter, Lou Saldivar, and Alison Sherwood of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Trouble is 'thin line' between journalism, commentary: Meghan McCain

(NEWSER) - Keith Olbermann shouldn’t have been taken to task for donating to Democrats because he’s not a journalist—he’s a commentator, argues Meghan McCain in the Daily Beast . But the kerfuffle spotlights a key issue as the lines between entertainment, journalism, and commentary blur: News outlets need to decide which category they fall into, and be clear about it. More»

Edwards exposé a shoo-in for glory—but not for tabloid

(NEWSER) - By any sane measure, the unmasking of John Edwards as a philanderer who knocked up his mistress while his wife battled cancer was one of the all-time great scoops—except in determining the winners of yesterday's Pulitzer Prizes for journalism. "The media elite circled the wagons to exclude the scrappy, self-proclaimed supermarket tabloid," Emily Miller writes for the Washington Times . More»

Late country star wins citation for lifetime achievement

(NEWSER) - Late country music legend Hank Williams is among this year's Pulitzer winners. The singer, who died in 1953, "expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life," the board wrote, awarding the hugely influential singer a rare special citation for lifetime achievement. More»