For a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news, Seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500).

Awarded to The Eagle-Tribune Staff, Lawrence, Mass., for its detailed, well-crafted stories on the accidental drowning of four boys in the Merrimack River.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (left) presents William B. Ketter of The Eagle-Tribune with the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: The Baltimore Sun Staff for its compelling and comprehensive coverage of the sniper killings that terrorized the Washington-Baltimore region, and The Seattle Times Staff for its enterprising coverage of the many local connections to the ex-soldier and his teenage companion arrested in the sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., region.