NEW YORK--The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting on abuse in the seafood industry that helped free 2,000 slave laborers, and Reuters and The New York Times shared the breaking news photography award for images of the European refugee crisis.
The Pulitzer Board, in conferring the most prestigious honours in U.S. journalism and the arts on Monday, also honoured the Los Angeles Times for breaking news reporting for its coverage of the massacre by Islamist militants in San Bernardino, California. This year's announcement at New York's Columbia University marked the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzers, which began in 1917 after a bequest from newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.
The AP's prize-winning "Seafood from Slaves" report was an investigation into the mistreatment of workers in Southeast Asia used to supply seafood to American supermarkets and restaurants. The coverage resulted in the freeing of 2,000 slave laborers and sweeping reforms, the board said.
The reporters "found captive slaves, countering industry claims that the problems had been solved," AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll wrote in her nomination letter to the Pulitzer judges. "U.S. customs records show the (slave-peeled) shrimp made its way into the supply chains of major U.S. food stores and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Dollar General and Petco, along with restaurants such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden," the AP reported in the series of 10 articles.
The New York Times, with a record 117 Pulitzer prizes and citations before this year's announcement, added two more in 2016, taking the prize for international reporting in addition to its photography award.
The Boston Globe, the Tampa Bay Times and The New Yorker magazine also won two awards each. In total, the board handed out prizes in 21 categories, selected from about 3,000 entries.
The Reuters photo coverage of Middle Eastern migrants arriving in Europe was led from Greece by Yannis Behrakis, chief photographer for Greece and Cyprus and the Guardian newspaper's 2015 Agency Photographer of the Year. The team captured a series of images of migrants crowded on flimsy sea craft and their first moments upon reaching Europe.
"We showed the world what was going on, and the world cared. It showed that humanity is still alive," Behrakis said. "We made for these unfortunate people's voice to be heard. Now with a Pulitzer, we feel that our work has been professionally recognized."
Some images showed families rushing ashore, flailing away in the water or collapsing on the beach. Others juxtaposed the rafters at sea with a cruise ship or a leaping dolphin or the setting sun.
The Reuters photo staff was named as co-winner for breaking news photography along with Mauricio Lima, Sergey Ponomarev, Tyler Hicks and Daniel Etter of The New York Times, also for their images of the migrant crisis.
