2008 Finalists

Public Service

Charlotte Observer

For its illuminating examination of the mortgage and housing crisis in the newspaper’s community and state, resulting in federal probes and changes in a major lender’s practices.

Newsday, Long Island, NY

For its comprehensive investigation into the hazardous gap between a New York railroad’s trains and its boarding platforms, spotlighting individual injuries and triggering a multi-million-dollar remedy by the railway.

Breaking News Reporting

Staff of The New York Times

For its swift, penetrating coverage of a fire in the Bronx that killed nine persons, eight of them children.

Staff of Idaho Statesman

For its tenacious coverage of the twists and turns in the scandal involving the state’s senator, Larry Craig.

Investigative Reporting

Miles Moffeit and Susan Greene of The Denver Post

For their reports on how destruction of evidence in criminal cases across the nation can free the guilty and convict the innocent, prompting official efforts to correct breakdowns.

Explanatory Reporting

Beth Daley of The Boston Globe

For her evocative exploration of how global warming affects New Englanders, from ice fishermen to blueberry farmers.

Staff of The Oregonian, Portland

For its richly illustrated reports on a breakthrough in producing the microprocessors that are a technological cornerstone of modern life.

Local Reporting

Chris Davis, Matthew Doig and Tiffany Lankes of Sarasota (FA) Herald Tribune

For their dogged exposure, in print and online, of predatory teachers and the system that protects them, stirring state and national action.

Jeff Pillets, John Brennan and Tim Nostrand of The Record, Bergen County, NJ

For their probe of how plans to build a luxury community atop old landfills became entangled in questionable state loans and other allegations of favoritism.

National Reporting

Staff of The New York Times

For its stories about CIA interrogation techniques that critics condemned as torture, stirring debate on the legal and moral limits of American action against terrorism.

Howard Witt of Chicago Tribune

For his wide ranging examination of complicated racial issues in America, from the courtroom to the schoolyard.

International Reporting

Staff of The New York Times

For its valorous and comprehensive coverage of America's military efforts to reduce sectarian violence in Iraq.

Staff of The Wall Street Journal

For its in-depth reports on the dismantling of democracy in Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin.

Feature Writing

Thomas Curwen of Los Angeles Times

For his vivid account of a grizzly bear attack and the recovery of the two victims.

Kevin Vaughan of Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO

For his sensitive retelling of a school bus and train collision at a rural crossing in 1961 that killed 20 children.

Commentary

Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland

For her passionate columns on alienated teenagers in a dangerous city neighborhood.

John Kass of Chicago Tribune

For his hard-hitting columns on the abuse of local political power and a lively range of topics in a colorful city.

Criticism

Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post

For her perceptive movie reviews and essays, reflecting solid research and an easy, engaging style.

Inga Saffron of Philadelphia Inquirer

For her forceful critiques that illuminate the vital interplay between architecture and the life of her city.

Editorial Writing

Maureen Downey of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

For her compelling editorials on the harsh sentences that teenagers can receive for consensual sex in Georgia.

Rodger Jones of The Dallas Morning News

For his relentless editorials that led to mandating roll-call votes on all statewide legislation in Texas.

Staff of Wisconsin State Journal

For its persistent, high-spirited campaign against abuses in the governor's veto power.

Editorial Cartooning

Tom Batiuk of King Features

For a sequence in his cartoon strip "Funky Winkerbean" that portrays a woman's poignant battle with breast cancer.

Clay Bennett of The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, MA

For his distinctive cartoons marked by sharp focus and pungent simplicity.

Breaking News Photography

Mahmud Hams of Agence France-Presse

For his picture of a missile, caught in mid-air, as it falls on a target in the Gaza Strip while young Palestinians scramble for safety.

Staff of Los Angeles Times

For its powerful and often unpredictable photos that captured wildfires devastating California.

Feature Photography

David Guttenfelder of Associated Press

For his harrowing portfolio of Vietnamese children afflicted by the toxic legacy of Agent Orange, three decades after the Vietnam War ended.

Mona Reeder of Dallas Morning News

For her memorable pictures of disadvantaged Texans hidden amid the state's economic abundance.