Plight of refugees among themes of Pulitzer prize winners

Published April 19, 2016
New York Times photographers Daniel Etter, Sergey Ponomarev, Mauricio Lima and Tyler Hicks (L-R) react as they are applauded by their colleagues in the newsroom after winning the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in New York, April 18, 2016.─Reuters
New York Times photographers Daniel Etter, Sergey Ponomarev, Mauricio Lima and Tyler Hicks (L-R) react as they are applauded by their colleagues in the newsroom after winning the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography in New York, April 18, 2016.─Reuters
This undated photo provided by Columbia University shows Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of "The Sympathizer," the Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction announced Monday.─AP
This undated photo provided by Columbia University shows Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of "The Sympathizer," the Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction announced Monday.─AP
Associated Press staff applaud after it was announced that the news organisation had won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, Monday, April 18, 2016, in New York. The AP won the prize for documenting the use of slave labor in Southeast Asia to supply seafood to American tables, an investigation that spurred the release of more than 2,000 captive workers.  — AP
Associated Press staff applaud after it was announced that the news organisation had won the Pulitzer Prize for public service, Monday, April 18, 2016, in New York. The AP won the prize for documenting the use of slave labor in Southeast Asia to supply seafood to American tables, an investigation that spurred the release of more than 2,000 captive workers. — AP
Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza, right, speaks in the New York newsroom as the AP wins the Pulitzer Prize for public service, Monday, April 18, 2016, in New York. ─AP
Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza, right, speaks in the New York newsroom as the AP wins the Pulitzer Prize for public service, Monday, April 18, 2016, in New York. ─AP
A Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to walk off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Lesbos September 24, 2015.Reuters and The New York Times shared the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for images of the migrant crisis in Europe and the Middle East. ─Reuters
A Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to walk off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Lesbos September 24, 2015.Reuters and The New York Times shared the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography for images of the migrant crisis in Europe and the Middle East. ─Reuters
Hungarian policemen stand over a family of immigrants who threw themselves onto the track before they were detained at a railway station in the town of Bicske, Hungary, September 3, 2015. ─Reuters
Hungarian policemen stand over a family of immigrants who threw themselves onto the track before they were detained at a railway station in the town of Bicske, Hungary, September 3, 2015. ─Reuters
The body of an unidentified migrant is seen on a beach after being washed ashore, on the Greek island of Lesbos, November 7, 2015. ─Reuters
The body of an unidentified migrant is seen on a beach after being washed ashore, on the Greek island of Lesbos, November 7, 2015. ─Reuters
Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian policemen to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. ─Reuters
Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian policemen to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. ─Reuters
Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke. ─Reuters
Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke. ─Reuters
A policeman tries to stop a migrant from boarding a train through a window at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, close to the border with Greece, August 15, 2015. ─Reuters
A policeman tries to stop a migrant from boarding a train through a window at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, close to the border with Greece, August 15, 2015. ─Reuters
A  overcrowded inflatable boat with Syrian refugees drifts in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece after its motor broke down off the Greek island of Kos, August 11, 2015. ─Reuters
A overcrowded inflatable boat with Syrian refugees drifts in the Aegean sea between Turkey and Greece after its motor broke down off the Greek island of Kos, August 11, 2015. ─Reuters
Syrian refugee kisses his daughter as he walks through a rainstorm towards Greece's border with Macedonia, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. ─Reuters
Syrian refugee kisses his daughter as he walks through a rainstorm towards Greece's border with Macedonia, near the Greek village of Idomeni, September 10, 2015. ─Reuters
An Afghan migrant jumps off an overcrowded raft onto a beach at the Greek island of Lesbos October 19, 2015. ─ Reuters
An Afghan migrant jumps off an overcrowded raft onto a beach at the Greek island of Lesbos October 19, 2015. ─ Reuters
Immigrants are escorted by German police to a registration centre, after crossing the Austrian-German border in Wegscheid near Passau, Germany, October 20, 2015. ─ Reuters
Immigrants are escorted by German police to a registration centre, after crossing the Austrian-German border in Wegscheid near Passau, Germany, October 20, 2015. ─ Reuters
Amoun, 70, a blind Palestinian refugee who lived in the town of Aleppo in Syria, rests on a beach moments after arriving along with another forty on a dinghy in the Greek island of Kos, crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, August 12, 2015. ─Reuters
Amoun, 70, a blind Palestinian refugee who lived in the town of Aleppo in Syria, rests on a beach moments after arriving along with another forty on a dinghy in the Greek island of Kos, crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece, August 12, 2015. ─Reuters
In this November 2015 photo, Strider Wolf reaches up to grab high on a sapling revealing a scar on his stomach from a feeding tube as a result from his childhood abuse. This was one of the images by Jessica Rinaldi, of The Boston Globe, that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for photos of a boy who strives to find his footing after being abused. – AP
In this November 2015 photo, Strider Wolf reaches up to grab high on a sapling revealing a scar on his stomach from a feeding tube as a result from his childhood abuse. This was one of the images by Jessica Rinaldi, of The Boston Globe, that won the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography for photos of a boy who strives to find his footing after being abused. – AP
In this Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 photo, Thai and Burmese fishing boat workers sit behind bars inside a cell at the compound of a fishing company in Benjina, Indonesia. The Associated Press has won the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, April 18, 2016, for public service for articles documenting the use of slave labor in the commercial seafood industry in Indonesia and Thailand. ─AP
In this Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014 photo, Thai and Burmese fishing boat workers sit behind bars inside a cell at the compound of a fishing company in Benjina, Indonesia. The Associated Press has won the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, April 18, 2016, for public service for articles documenting the use of slave labor in the commercial seafood industry in Indonesia and Thailand. ─AP
In this May 16, 2015, file photo, former slave fisherman Myint Naing and his mother, Khin Than, cry as they are reunited after 22 years at their village in Mon State, Myanmar. ─AP
In this May 16, 2015, file photo, former slave fisherman Myint Naing and his mother, Khin Than, cry as they are reunited after 22 years at their village in Mon State, Myanmar. ─AP
This image released by The Public Theater shows Lin-Manuel Miranda, foreground, with the cast during a performance of "Hamilton," in New York. "Hamilton," the hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for drama on Monday, April 18, 2016. ─AP
This image released by The Public Theater shows Lin-Manuel Miranda, foreground, with the cast during a performance of "Hamilton," in New York. "Hamilton," the hip-hop stage biography of Alexander Hamilton won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for drama on Monday, April 18, 2016. ─AP

The plight of refugees was among the social issues tackled by this year's Pulitzer Prize winners.

Among the prize's arts categories, former refugee Viet Thanh Nguyen won the fiction prize Monday for “The Sympathizer” – an immigrant tale told in a “wry, confessional voice.”

“Hamilton,” the hip-hop stage biography of Caribbean emigrant Alexander Hamilton, won for drama. In journalism.

The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting on abuse in the seafood industry that helped free 2,000 slave laborers, and Reuters and The New York Times shared the breaking news photography award for images of the European refugee crisis.

The Pulitzer Board, in conferring the most prestigious honours in US journalism and the arts on Monday, also honoured the Los Angeles Times for breaking news reporting for its coverage of the massacre by militants in San Bernardino, California.

The AP's prize-winning “Seafood from Slaves” report was an investigation into the mistreatment of workers in Southeast Asia used to supply seafood to American supermarkets and restaurants. The coverage resulted in the freeing of 2,000 slave labourers and sweeping reforms, the board said.

The reporters “found captive slaves, countering industry claims that the problems had been solved,” AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll wrote in her nomination letter to the Pulitzer judges.

“US customs records show the (slave-peeled) shrimp made its way into the supply chains of major US food stores and retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Dollar General and Petco, along with restaurants such as Red Lobster and Olive Garden,” the AP reported in the series of 10 articles.

This year's announcement at New York's Columbia University marked the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzers, which began in 1917 after a bequest from newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer.

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.