For a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to the Los Angeles Times Staff for its engrossing examination of the tactics that have made Wal-Mart the largest company in the world with cascading effects across American towns and developing countries.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (left) presents (from left) Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani, Abigail Goldman, Tyler Marshall, Rick Wartzman and John Corrigan, of the Los Angeles Times, with the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: S. Lynne Walker of Copley News Service (writing for The State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois) for her candid, in-depth look at how Mexican immigration transformed an all-white Midwestern town, and The Wall Street Journal Staff for its masterly, richly detailed stories on how hidden decision-makers make life-and-death choices about who gets health care in America.