Handicapping the Pulitzer Prizes

Editor and Publisher appears to have gotten a finalized list of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prizes. My personal winners in categories on which I've blogged or commented upon are in bold:

COMMENTARY
Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times
Cynthia Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chris Rose of the Times-Picayune

INVESTIGATIVE
The Washington Post (revelations about Jack Abramoff)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (FEMA probe)
Los Angeles Times (Getty Museum)

NATIONAL
The New York Times (NSA wiretapping revelations)
The New York Times (body armor)
Copley News Service/The San Diego Union-Tribune ("Duke" Cunningham)

PUBLIC SERVICE
The Blade of Toledo (“Coingate”)
The Washington Post (package on terrorism)
The Sun-Herald of Biloxi, Miss. (Katrina)

BEAT REPORTING (new)
The Washington Post (Dana Priest, secret prisons)
The New York Times (Barry Meier, defective heart implant)
Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss. (Jerry Mitchell, civil rights murders)

INTERNATIONAL
The New York Times (China)
Los Angeles Times (Muslims in Europe)
The Washington Post (Iraq coverage by Steve Fainaru)

EXPLANATORY
The Washington Post (David Finkel for reports about Yemen)
Miami Herald (breakdowns in hurricane warning system)
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (rabies)

BREAKING NEWS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (courthouse shooting)
The Times-Picayune of New Orleans (Katrina)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Hurriance Wilma)

CARTOONISTS
Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press
Marshall Ramsey of the Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss.

SPOT NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Los Angeles Times (Gaza pullout)
Dallas Morning News (Katrina)
The Associated Press (Katrina)

FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
Los Angeles Times (Catholic priests in Alaska)
Rocky Mountain News ('Final Salute')
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Holocaust survivor)

It would be quite funny watching the New York Times win the national category for their story on the NSA eavesdropping story, in which they quite likely broke US law. It would follow a long line of criminals being nominated for major awards - think Tookie Williams being nominated for a Nobel Prize.

Seriously though, the Times Picayune and Biloxi Sun Herald have done amazing work under difficult circumstances to not only deal with the scale and scope of destruction wrought by Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, but have produced first rate journalism. They're often source material for many of my own bloggings on the ongoing rebuilding on the Gulf Coast - mostly because the national media has moved on to other stories.

Don Surber has additional thoughts on the nominations.