Pulitzer Prizes: Philadelphia Inquirer, AP among 2012 winners

The 2012 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday, with the Philadelphia Inquirer awarded the Gold Medal for public service for its reporting on pervasive violence in that city’s schools. The reporting stirred reforms to improve safety for students and teachers.

The local reporting prize went to Sara Ganim and other staff of the Patriot News of Harrisburg, Penn., for that newspaper’s reporting on the explosive Penn State sexual abuse scandal.

David Wood of the Huffington Post won the national reporting prize for his coverage of the challenges facing wounded American soldiers.

The prizes, which recognize newspaper and online journalism, literature, arts and music were announced Monday afternoon at Columbia University.

The Los Angeles Times was a finalist in feature photography, breaking news photography and commentary, for columnist Steve Lopez’s work on death and dying.

Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune won the commentary prize for her columns on Chicago.

The feature photography prize went to Craig Walker of the Denver Post. The breaking news photography award went to Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse for a photo of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber’s attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul.

Two awards went to New York Times staffers: Jeffrey Gettleman won the international reporting award for his coverage of Africa, and David Kocieniewski won the explanatory reporting award for a series on how the wealthy and corporations exploit tax loopholes.

In the breaking news category, the winner was the Tuscaloosa Alabama staff for coverage of the deadly tornadoes that hit the city last year.

There were two winners in the investigative reporting category: the Associated Press and the Seattle Times.

Eli Sanders of the Stranger, a weekly in Seattle, won for his story of a woman who survived a brutal attack.

Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe was recognized in the criticism category for his inventive film criticism.

Matt Wuerker of Politico won for his editorial cartooning. There was no prize awarded this year for editorial writing.

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jessica.garrison@latimes.com