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Prize is paper's high-water mark Grand Forks Herald published despite flood; N.Y. Times wins 3, L.A. Times 2 Wednesday, April 15, 1998 By Tim Whitmire, The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The Grand Forks Herald, which published through floods that devastated the North Dakota city and its own plant, won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for public service yesterday. The New York Times won three of journalism's most prestigious awards and the Los Angeles Times won two.
It was the first Pulitzer for the Herald, whose building was destroyed a year ago this week by a fire that swept through Grand Forks in the midst of the flooding. Most of the newsroom's 57 employees were flood victims.
The paper continued publishing with help from other Knight Ridder newspapers, including the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, which provided computer equipment and printed the Herald during the crisis.
"It would have been worth it, even if we hadn't gotten the prize," said Jeff Beach, news editor of the 37,000-circulation Herald. "People in the community are starting to talk about remembering the Herald again, from that special time during the flood when it was being snapped up at all the refugee centers and how very important it was to people. I think that meant more than the prize."
Also receiving a Pulitzer was The Riverdale Press, a New York City weekly with a circulation of 11,800. Editor and co-publisher Bernard L. Stein was honored for editorials on politics and city issues.
The New York Times won for beat reporting, international reporting and criticism, and the Los Angeles Times was honored for breaking-news reporting and feature photography.
The beat reporting prize went to Linda Greenhouse for coverage of the Supreme Court, while the international reporting prize went to the Times' staff for a series on the effects of drug corruption in Mexico. Michiko Kakutani's writing on books and contemporary literature was honored with the criticism prize.
Craig Pyes was one of the four reporters who worked on the Times' Mexico series for a year, during which they received death threats and were sued by politicians they had linked to drug trafficking.
The Los Angeles Times won in the breaking news category for coverage of a botched bank robbery and bloody police shootout in North Hollywood. The paper also captured a feature photography award for Clarence Williams' pictures illustrating the problems facing children of drug- and alcohol-addicted parents.
Ardith Hilliard, editor of the Los Angeles Times' San Fernando Valley edition, called coverage of the shootout "an extraordinary effort on everybody's part."
"It was a quiet Friday morning and two people in body armor started shooting in North Hollywood, and the staff knew exactly what to do," she said.
In the arts, Philip Roth won his first Pulitzer, in fiction, for his 22nd book, "American Pastoral." The award for biography went to Katharine Graham, chairman of the executive committee of The Washington Post for her autobiography, "Personal History."
Other arts winners included Edward J. Larson in history, for "Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion"; Charles Wright in poetry for "Black Zodiac"; Paula Vogel in drama for "How I Learned to Drive"; Jared Diamond in general non-fiction for "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"; and Aaron Jay Kernis in music for "String Quartet No. 2 Musica Instrumentalis."
Mike McAlary of the New York Daily News won in the commentary category for columns on the alleged attack on Haitian immigrant Abner Louima by police in a Brooklyn stationhouse. McAlary scored the first interview with Louima, from his hospital bedside days after the attack.
Gary Cohn and Will Englund of The Sun of Baltimore won the investigative reporting award for a series on dangers posed to workers and the environment when discarded ships are dismantled.
Paul Salopek of the Chicago Tribune won in the explanatory reporting category for a profile of the Human Genome Diversity Project, which seeks to chart the genetic relationship among all people.
Russell Carollo and Jeff Nesmith of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News won the national reporting prize for stories disclosing flaws and mismanagement in military health care. The series resulted in a congressional warning to the Pentagon that it may hold hearings.
Thomas French of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times was honored for feature writing for a portrait of a mother and two daughters killed while on a Florida vacation.
The editorial cartooning prize went to Stephen P. Breen of the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press.
Winning a special citation was the late George Gershwin, honored for his contribution to American music on the centennial of his birth.
The prizes are presented annually by Columbia University. Prizes include an award of $5,000, except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.
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