Edward Snowden didnt win a Pulitzer on Monday, but he might as well have. <\/p>\n
In a move certain to be interpreted as a vindication of the former government contractors efforts, the Pulitzer Prize Board on Monday awarded The Guardian US and The Washington Post its coveted Public Service award for reporting on the National Security Agencys domestic surveillance practices. <\/p>\n
The award was given for the revelation of widespread secret surveillance by the National Security Agency, marked by authoritative and insightful reports that helped the public understand how the disclosures fit into the larger framework of national security, the committee said in its release. Sig Gissler, the Pulitzer Prize administrator, announced the winners shortly after 3 p.m. at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York. <\/p>\n
(Also on POLITICO: 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners) <\/p>\n
Snowden immediately declared the decision a vindication. <\/p>\n
Todays decision is a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government, he said in a statement to The Guardian. We owe it to the efforts of the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation, including the forced destruction of journalistic materials, the inappropriate use of terrorism laws, and so many other means of pressure to get them to stop what the world now recognizes was work of vital public importance. <\/p>\n
Martin Baron, the executive editor of the Washington Post, told POLITICO, None of this would have been possible without Snowdens release of classified information. I understand thats a source of controversy, but without his disclosures there would be no discussion of the shift from the rights of the individual to state power, no debate about the balance between privacy and national security. <\/p>\n
(Earlier on POLITICO: Snowden looms over Pulitzer Prizes) <\/p>\n
Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger similarly championed Snowdens efforts, telling staff, The public service in this award is significant because Snowden performed a public service. <\/p>\n
The reporting on the former government contractors leaks was led by journalists Glenn Greenwald and Ewan McAskill at The Guardian, Barton Gellman at the Post, and Laura Poitras, who worked with both newspapers. <\/p>\n
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