ARAB TIMES, SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13

People & Places

Pulitzers

Explanatory reporting win Pulitzers honor COVID & US protest coverage

NEW YORK, June 12, (AP): The Associated Press won two Pulitzer Prizes in photography Friday for its coverage of the racial injustice protests and the coronavirus’s terrible toll on the elderly, while The New York Times received the public service award for its detailed, data-filled reporting on the pandemic. A wounded woman is evacuated after a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon, Agustina Cañamero, 81, hugs and kisses her husband Pascual Pérez, 84, In a year dominated by COVID-19 and furious de- Aug 4, 2020. The image was part of a series of photographs by The Associated through a plastic film screen to avoid contracting the coronavirus at a nursing bate over race and policing, the Star Tribune of Min- Press that was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photog- home in Barcelona, Spain, June 22, 2020. The image was part of a series by As- neapolis won the breaking news reporting prize for its raphy. (AP) sociated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize coverage of George Floyd’s murder and its aftermath, for feature photography. (AP) while Darnella Frazier — the teenager who recorded the killing on a cellphone — received a special cita- tion. Frazier’s award was intend- ed to highlight “the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice,” the Pu- litzer Board said. The AP and The New York Times each won two Pulitz- ers, the most prestigious prize in journalism, fi rst awarded in 1917. The feature photography prize went to AP’s chief pho- Morenatti tographer in Spain, Emilio Morenatti, who captured haunting images of an older couple embracing through a plastic sheet, mortuary workers in hazmat gear removing bodies, and people enduring the crisis in isolation. The breaking news photography prize was shared A woman sits on her balcony in downtown Barcelona, Spain, May 7, 2020. The A demonstrator stares at a National Guard solider as protests continue over the by 10 AP photographers for their coverage of the pro- image was part of a series by Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti death of George Floyd, June 3, 2020, near the White House in Washington, DC. tests set off by Floyd’s killing. One widely published that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. (AP) The image was part of a series of photographs by The Associated Press that photograph by Julio Cortez on the night of May 28 won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. (AP) in riot-torn Minneapolis showed a lone, silhouetted protester running with an upside-down American fl ag past a burning liquor store. “Everybody, not just myself, has given up some- thing to go cover this stuff,” Cortez said. “To be an illegal immigrant kid who now has a piece of the AP history is just insane. I’m just super proud of every- one’s work.” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt said the two prizes are a “true testament to the talent and dedication of AP photojournalists.” He added: “These photogra- phers told the stories of the year through remarkable and unforgettable images that resonated around the world.” The New York Times received its public service prize for pandemic coverage that the judges said was “courageous, prescient and sweeping” and “fi lled a data vacuum” that helped better prepare the public. Wesley Morris of the Times won for criticism, for his writing on the intersection of race and culture. Traumatic Similarly, the prize for commentary went to Mi- chael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia for a series of columns on dismantling Confederate monuments in Richmond following This cover image released by Liveright/ The cast of ‘The Hot Wing King’ appears during a performance on Feb 8, 2020. This cover image released by Liveright Floyd’s death. Norton shows ‘Franchise: The Golden Playwright Katori Hall won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play. (AP) shows ‘The Dead Are Arising’ co-au- And Star Tribune journalists were honored for cov- Arches in Black America’ by Marcia thored by Tamara Payne and her father ering the rage in Minneapolis, where protesters burned Chatelain, winner of the Pulitzer Prize Les Payne, winner of the Pulitzer Prize buildings, including a police station, in the wake of for History. (AP) for Biography. (AP) Floyd’s death. The Black man died after a white Min- neapolis police offi cer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for up to 9-1/2 minutes. The offi cer was later convicted of murder. Pulitzers “Our staff poured its heart and soul into covering this story. It has been such a traumatic and tragic time for our community,” Star Tribune Editor Rene Sanchez said in a statement. “We felt that our journal- ism had to capture the full truth and depth of this pain ‘The Night Watchman,’ Malcolm X biography honored and the many questions it renewed about Minnesota and the country.” Prizes for explanatory reporting went to two re- cipients. Ed Yong of The Atlantic won for a series of Stories of race, racism win arts Pulitzers deeply reported articles about the pandemic. Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jaimi Dow- NEW YORK, June 12, (AP): Stories lation. The Paynes’ collaboration is also dell and Jackie Botts of Reuters were honored for a of race, racism and colonialism in “This story belongs to him and the second Malcolm X biography look at the legal concept of qualifi ed immunity and the US swept the Pulitzer Prizes for to the Turtle Mountain people. It to win a Pulitzer for an author who how it shields police from prosecution. the arts, from Louise Erdrich’s novel is very moving, this is very mov- didn’t live to see his book released. Two prizes for feature writing were also awarded. “The Night Watchman” to a Malcolm ing recognition,” said Erdrich, who Manning Marable, whose “Malcolm Nadja Drost won for her freelance piece on global X biography co-written by the late Les runs an independent bookstore in X: A Life of Reinvention” won for migration in The California Sunday Magazine, which Payne to Katori Hall’s play “The Hot Minneapolis, where Floyd was history in 2012, died shortly before suspended publication late last year. And freelance Wing King.” killed in May 2020. She called the publication. contributor Mitchell S. Jackson won for an account in The awards were announced Friday Pulitzer a welcome contrast to the Natalie Diaz’s “Postcolonial Love Runner’s World on the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a during a remote ceremony that hon- news of the past year. Poem,” a work of pain and of ecstasy Black man who was chased down and shot while jog- ored the best work in journalism and “I love this city and it hurts to know her publisher describes as “a call to- ging in Georgia. the arts in 2020, a year defined in part how deep the racism goes. It’s some- ward goodness, even as it recognizes This cover image released by Harper by the police killing of George Floyd thing indigenous people also know the violence of our time,” was the The national reporting prize went to the staffs of shows ‘The Night Watchman’ by Louis The Marshall Project, AL.com, IndyStar and the In- and the protests and reckoning which about well. It’s been a painful time.” poetry winner and David Zucchino’s Erdrich, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for followed. The news also comes amid Pulitzer judges called Erdrich’s nov- “Wilmington’s Lie: The Murderous visible Institute for an investigation into attacks on Fiction. (AP) people by police K-9 units around the country. an intensifying debate over race and el “a majestic, polyphonic novel about Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White BuzzFeed News won its fi rst Pulitzer, in interna- education, with legislators in Texas a community’s efforts to halt the pro- Supremacy” was cited for general non- tional reporting, for a series by Megha Rajagopalan, and elsewhere seeking to restrict the posed displacement and elimination fiction. Alison Killing and Christo Buschek on the infrastruc- teaching of racial injustice. of several Native American tribes in Tania León’s composition “Stride” ture built by the Chinese government for the mass de- Variety “What the Pulitzers are awarding the 1950s, rendered with dexterity and won for music. The judges commend- tention of Muslims. this year seems so timely,” Tamara imagination.” ed it for being “a musical journey full Payne, Les Payne’s daughter and the of surprise, with powerful brass and Also, BuzzFeed News and the International Con- Accolades sortium of Journalists were fi nalists in that category MIAMI: Michele Gillen, a former South principal researcher for his book, told rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black for an expose on the global banking industry’s role in Florida television investigative reporter, The Associated Press. “All of these It was the first Pulitzer for Erdrich, music traditions from the US and the money laundering. A former US Treasury Department has died. She was 66. voices are so important and always who turned 67 this week and has been Caribbean into a Western orchestral employee was sentenced to six months in prison this Longtime friend and producer Marcia have been important.” a published author for more than 40 fabric.” month for leaking the trove of confi dential fi nancial Izaguirre confi rmed Gillen’s death from Marcia Chatelain, whose “Fran- years. Her previous honors include a “The Hot Wing King” by Katori reports that served as the basis for the series. natural causes in a Facebook post Friday. chise: The Golden Arches in Black National Book Award for “The Round Hall, a play set around a hot wing “For all those who knew her, she was America” won for history, said that she House” and the National Book Critics cooking competition, won the prize for Information a relentless warrior who fought inde- felt honored to be among a group of Circle prize for “LaRose.” drama during a theater season that saw Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, fatigably for the vulnerable,” Izaguirre writers who have “tried to find a way The Pulitzer for “The Dead Are most venues largely shuttered. Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy of The Boston wrote. “In every story she delved into, to make clear that writing about race is Arising” continues the posthumous ac- The drama award, which includes a Globe received the investigative reporting Pulitzer for she aimed to discover the truth and spur fundamental to understanding what we claim for Les Payne, an award-winning $15,000 prize, is “for a distinguished change to improve the quality of life of need as a society.” Newsday journalist who died in 2018. play by an American author, prefer- a series demonstrating the systematic failure by state her community.” governments to share information about dangerous Erdrich, a member of the Turtle He began working on the Malcolm X ably original in its source and dealing Gillen won 39 local Emmys over Mountain Band of Chippewa Indi- book in 1990 and compiled more than with American life.” truck drivers. several decades. McCarthy, the editor on the series, said the Globe ans, has drawn upon her background 100 hours of interviews, including The Pulitzer board hailed “The Hot Gillen graduated from Emerson Col- and blended the traditions of oral with family members of the late Black Wing King” as a “funny, deeply felt “quickly found that this kind of tragedy had been hap- lege in Boston in 1977 and took a job pening year after year for decades. The problems were and written storytelling for such activist, before he died. Tamara Payne consideration of Black masculinity and at a TV station in Bangor, Maine, a helped complete “The Dead Are Aris- in plain sight but had never been addressed.” short time later. She moved to Miami in acclaimed novels as “The Round how it is perceived, filtered through the The winner of the public service Pulitzer is honored 1980 to work for WPLG-ABC10, where House” and “The Plague of Doves.” ing,” which has been praised highly experiences of a loving gay couple and with a gold medal. The awards in the other categories Izaguirre said Gillen’s work on housing She based “The Night Watchman” on by critics and last fall won a National their extended family as they prepare carry a prize of $15,000 each. The prizes are adminis- facilities for the elderly led to national the life of her maternal grandfather, Book Award. for a culinary competition.” tered by Columbia University. legislation against elder abuse. (AP) a night watchman whose reservation “I do wish he were here, to receive Finalists included “Circle Jerk” by The Boston Globe received the investigative report- ❑ ❑ ❑ in rural North Dakota was threatened the accolades,” Tamara Payne said of Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley,” ing Pulitzer for a series demonstrating how poor gov- in the 1950s by congressional legis- her father. and “Stew” by Zora Howard. ernment oversight imperils road safety. NEW YORK: Jailed R&B singer R. Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Kelly wants to shake up his legal defense Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy were recognized team two months before he is set to go on “for reporting that uncovered a systematic failure by trial in New York on federal racketeering state governments to share information about danger- charges. lawyers. fi rst time in more than seven months after ous truck drivers that could have kept them off the His top two attorneys, Steve Green- “Sometimes you can’t save someone he was caught ... on a Zoom call with road,” the Pulitzer board said. berg and Michael Leonard, of Chicago, from themselves,” Greenberg wrote on former colleagues at The New Yorker. The investigation reported how the increasingly fi led a motion this week seeking to Twitter this week, “no matter how hard Toobin, in an interview with CNN’s withdraw from the long-delayed case, you try.” Alisyn Camerota, said that he was deadly trucking industry operates with minimal fed- saying it would be “impossible” for them grateful to CNN for another chance and eral government oversight. A request for comment was sent “to properly represent Mr Kelly under Thursday to Greenberg and Leonard. that he was “trying to become the kind of Boston Globe editor Brian McGrory praised his the current circumstances.” person that people can trust again.” staff’s winning coverage for the investigative report- (AP) US District Judge Ann Donnelly ❑ ❑ ❑ Camerota asked him bluntly, “what the ing Pulitzer, highlighting their “tireless shoe-leather did not immediately grant the motion, hell were you thinking?” reporting” and the reforms their work produced. requesting more details about the appar- NEW YORK: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey “Obviously, I wasn’t thinking very ent falling out among Kelly’s team of Toobin returned to the network for the Kelly Camerota well or very much,” he said. (AP)