For a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to Staff of The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J., for its comprehensive, clear-headed coverage of the resignation of New Jersey’s governor after he announced he was gay and confessed to adultery with a male lover.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger (left) presents Josh Margolin (center) and Jeff Whelan (right) of The Star-Ledger with the 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting.

Finalists

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: The Charlotte Sun Staff, Charlotte Harbor, FL, for its heroic coverage of Hurricane Charley after it destroyed the homes of employees and cut the paper’s power supply and phone service, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Staff for its enterprising and wide-ranging coverage, under difficult conditions, of four hurricanes that battered Florida over a six-week span.