2000 Finalists

Public Service

Chicago Tribune

For its extensive investigation of the failures of the legal justice system, documenting misconduct by prosecutors and inequities in death penalty cases, which led the governor of Illinois to suspend state executions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

For an investigative series, including an innovative presentation on its Web site, by Mark Fazlollah, Craig McCoy, Michael Matza and Clea Benson that revealed how Philadelphia police had routinely minimized and did not investigate many sexual assault claims, leading to reform of the system.

Breaking News Reporting

Staff of The Oregonian

For its comprehensive coverage of an environmental disaster created when a cargo ship carrying heavy fuels ran aground and broke apart, and how fumbling efforts of official agencies failed to contain the far-reaching damage.

Staff of Raleigh (NC) News & Observer

For its comprehensive coverage of the destruction in the state caused by Hurricane Floyd.

Investigative Reporting

Kurt Eichenwald and Gina Kolata of The New York Times

For reporting that disclosed how pharmaceutical companies secretly paid doctors to test drugs on patients.

Sam Roe of The Blade, Toledo, OH

For a series of articles that cited a 50-year pattern of misconduct by the American government and the beryllium industry in the production of metal used in nuclear bombs, which resulted in death and injury to dozens of workers, leading to government investigations and safety reforms.

Explanatory Reporting

Brent Walth and Alex Pulaski of The Oregonian

For their series on how politics influences pesticide regulation.

Michael Winerip of The New York Times

For his profile of a mentally ill man who pushed a woman to her death before an onrushing subway train, a case used by the writer for a broad overview of deficiencies in the mental health care system.

Beat Reporting

Robert O'Harrow of The Washington Post

For his innovative stories on threats to personal privacy in the digital age.

David Cay Johnston of The New York Times

For his lucid coverage of problems resulting from the reorganization of the Internal Revenue Service.

National Reporting

Anne Hull of The St. Petersburg Times

For her quietly powerful stories of Mexican women who come to work in North Carolina crab shacks, in pursuit of a better life.

David Jackson and Cornelia Grumman of Chicago Tribune

For their series on the growing lucrative privatization of jails and foster programs for troubled youths.

International Reporting

Staff of Associated Press

For its skillful and courageous coverage of the Russian attack on Chechnya.

Staff of The Washington Post

For its compelling, in-depth coverage of the war in Kosovo.

Feature Writing

David Finkel of The Washington Post

For his moving account of a woman forced to choose between staying with her family in a Macedonian refugee camp, or leaving to marry a man in France.

Anne Hull of The St. Petersburg Times

For her quietly powerful stories of Mexican women who come to work in North Carolina crab shacks, in pursuit of a better life.

Commentary

Michael Kelly of The Washington Post, Writers Group

For his enlightening and entertaining observations on cultural and political issues.

Colbert I. King of The Washington Post

For his caring, persuasive columns addressing social and urban problems.

Criticism

Michael Kimmelman of The New York Times

For his gracefully-written observations on art and artists.

Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer

For his informed and enlightening film criticism.

Editorial Writing

Fred Hiatt of The Washington Post

For his authoritative editorials on the crisis in Kosovo.

Philip Kennicott of St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For his carefully reasoned editorial campaign against the passage of a proposition to legally allow Missouri residents to carry concealed weapons.

Editorial Cartooning

Robert Ariail of The State, Columbia, SC

Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor

Breaking News Photography

Lacy Atkins of San Francisco Examiner

For her exuberant portrait of U.S. athlete Brandi Chastain after she scored the winning goal of the Women's World Cup Soccer Final.

Photo Staff of The Seattle Times

For its photos of the rioting that disrupted the annual conference of the World Trade Organization.

Feature Photography

Nuri Vallbona and Candace Barbot of The Miami Herald

For their photographs of Liberty City, a neighborhood crippled by drugs and violence, which detail the community's effort to reclaim the area.

Photo Staff of Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette

For its moving photographs of the grief and devastation that followed a local fire that killed six firefighters.