For a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to Michael D. Sallah, Mitch Weiss and Joe Mahr of The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, for their powerful series on atrocities by Tiger Force, an elite U.S. Army platoon, during the Vietnam War.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (left) presents Michael D. Sallah (second from left) Mitch Weiss (third from left) and Joe Mahr (right) with the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: David Barstow and Lowell Bergman of The New York Times for their relentless examination of death and injury among American workers and exposure of employers who break basic safety rules (moved by the Board to the Public Service category, where it was also entered), and David Ottaway and Joe Stephens of The Washington Post for their detailed stories that revealed questionable practices by a respected environmental organization and that produced sweeping reforms.