Among the winners were Reuters news agency for covering the fentanyl crisis; the Wall Street Journal for reporting on Musk; and the Washington Post for coverage of the attempt on Trump’s life.
What we know about the Trump rally shooter: Thomas Matthew Crooks
Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was identified by the FBI as the shooter in the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Winners of the nation’s top journalism prize were announced on Monday. Among them was investigative reporting on how fentanyl became a scourge worldwide; breaking news reporting on the assassination attempt of now-President Donald Trump; and reporting on tycoon Elon Musk.
The Pulitzer Center, a storied institution that has awarded the top prizes for journalism since 1917, announced the much-anticipated awards that cover everything from international reporting and breaking news photography to audio reporting and cartoon writing.
“We’re here to celebrate American excellence, American greatness,” said Marjorie Miller, an administrator with the New York-based institution. “What you’ll see in our journalism finalists and winners is courageous reporting and impactful storytelling from unbowed newsrooms.”
Reuters news agency won the top investigative reporting prize for exposing the loose regulations that allowed fentanyl – an opioid 100 times more potent than morphine – to become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths.
Reporters at The Washington Post won in the breaking news category for their live coverage of Thomas Crook’s assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Doug Mills of the New York Times won in the breaking news photography category for the iconic picture he took of the then-Republican candidate raising a fist with blood streaming from his ear.
The Wall Street Journal won the national reporting award for their coverage of Musk, including how the world’s richest man became involved in conservative politics, his use of drugs and conversations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Other notable winning coverage was reporting from the Baltimore Banner – a news outlet launched in 2022 – on the impact of fentanyl on Black men in the Maryland city; photography exposing torture in Syrian prisons by Moises Saman for The New Yorker magazine; and Ann Telnaes of The Washington Post for her cartoon skewering powerful people, often Trump.
A full list of winners and finalists for 2025 – and dating back to 1917 – is available at the Pulitzer Center’s website.