Two Florida newspapers won the Pulitzer Prize, the highest honor in journalism, for coverage of health-related issues. At the Tampa Bay Times, Daniel Ruth and Tim Nickens captured the prize for editorial writing for a series that pushed Pinellas County to resume adding fluoride to the water supply. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel’sinvestigative series on reckless driving by off-duty police officers won for Public Service.
Health issues also were the subjects for the Tampa Bay Times’ two finalists for Pulitzer Prizes: Kelley Benham’s personal account of the severely premature birth of her daughter for feature writing; and Alexandra Zayas’ coverage of abuse at religious children’s homes for investigative reporting.