Features

NEW YORK — News coverage of the pre-dawn raid by federal agents who grabbed Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez resulted in two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday: a breaking news reporting award for The Miami Herald and a breaking news photography award for Alan Diaz of The Associated Press. 

Diaz’s dramatic photo captured the confrontation between a rifle-toting federal agent and a family friend clutching Elian in his arms at the height of last year’s raid. 

The double winners were the Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Oregonian of Portland and The Wall Street Journal. 

Also among the winners was the Rutland (Vt.) Herald, circulation 22,000, which won its first Pulitzer for David Moats’ editorials supporting civil unions for gay couples. The civil unions eventually became state law. 

The Oregonian won the public service award for a series about the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the feature writing prize for Tom Hallman Jr.’s profile of a disfigured teen-ager who underwent life-threatening surgery to improve his appearance. 

The INS series found that the agency was detaining people for long periods without giving them access to legal representation. “I really want to thank the sources. It took a lot of courage to tell their stories to us,” said Rich Read, one of four reporters who worked on the stories. 

The Times’s David Cay Johnston won the beat reporting award for exposing loopholes and inequities in the U.S. tax code. The Times also won for national reporting for a series on race in America. 

The Tribune staff won the explanatory reporting award for “Gateway to Gridlock,” about the American air traffic system. 

There were two Pulitzers awarded this year in international reporting, and one of them went to Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Salopek, who wrote about political strife and epidemic disease in Africa. Salopek also won a Pulitzer in 1998 for explanatory reporting on the human genome project. 

The last time that the Pulitzer committee awarded two prizes in international reporting was in 1993 for stories about the Bosnian conflict. 

The other international reporting award went to Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal for stories about the Chinese government’s suppression of the Falun Gong movement. 

The Journal’s other Pulitzer was for commentary, awarded to Dorothy Rabinowitz for articles about American society and culture. 

The original trio nominated in commentary included two writers for The Philadelphia Inquirer: Karen Heller for humorous columns on life and culture and Trudy Rubin for analysis of the Middle East. The third finalist was Derrick Jackson of The Boston Globe for columns ranging from politics, education and race. 

The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., won its first Pulitzer, for feature photography by Matt Rainey. His emotional pictures documented the care and recovery of two students burned in a dormitory fire at Seton Hall University. “I think they’re heroes,” Rainey said. 

The Ledger’s spot coverage of the fire and feature stories about the students’ recovery also were finalists in the breaking news and feature writing categories. 

THE WINNERS  

Journalism: 

•Public service: The Oregonian of Portland. 

•Breaking news reporting: Staff of The Miami Herald. 

• Explanatory reporting: Staff of the Chicago Tribune. 

• Beat reporting: David Cay Johnston of The New York Times. 

• National reporting: Staff of The New York Times. 

• International reporting (two winners): Ian Johnson of The Wall Street Journal, Paul Salopek of the Chicago Tribune. 

• Feature writing: Tom Hallman Jr. of The Oregonian. 

• Commentary: Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal. 

• Criticism: Gail Caldwell of The Boston Globe. 

• Editorial writing: David Moats of the Rutland (Vt.) Herald. 

• Editorial cartooning: Ann Telnaes of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. 

• Spot news photography: Alan Diaz of The Associated Press. 

• Feature photography: Matt Rainey of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. 

Arts: 

• Fiction: Michael Chabon for “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.” 

• Drama: David Auburn for his play “Proof.” 

• History: Joseph J. Ellis for his book “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.” 

• Biography: David Levering Lewis for the second volume of his biography of civil rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois, “W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and The American Century, 1919-1963.” 

• Poetry: Stephen Dunn for his volume of original verses “Different Hours.” 

• General Nonfiction: Herbert P. Bix for his book “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.” 

—Music: John Corigliano for “Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra.”