Washington Post, Guardian share Pulitzer for Snowden-leaked NSA stories

The Washington Post and The Guardian have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes in public service for their coverage of Edward Snowden and the NSA surveillance program.

The highest honors in American journalism were announced Monday by the Columbia Journalism School in New York City.

University of Minnesota alum Kevin Siers, now of The Charlotte Observer, won the editorial cartooning award. He grew up on the Iron Range and had cartoons published in The Biwabik Times before writing for The Minnesota Daily.

The Post won for "its 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 organization said. (Read all the stories here.)Its newsroom offered a defiant tweet to those in government and media who questioned their work:

The Guardian won for, "helping through aggressive reporting to spark a debate about the relationship between the government and the public over issues of security and privacy." The stories were based on thousands of documents handed over by NSA leaker Edward Snowden. (Read all the stories here.) Its newsroom congratulated the co-winners:

The rest of the winners, and links to their Pulitzer citations, include:

Breaking news reporting: The Boston Globe staff for its coverage of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and afternath, "using photography and a range of digital tools to capture the full impact of the tragedy."

Investigative reporting: Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity, in Washington, D.C., "for his reports on how some lawyers and doctors rigged a system to deny benefits to coal miners stricken with black lung disease, resulting in remedial legislative efforts."

Explanatory reporting: Eli Saslow of The Washington Post.

Local reporting: Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia of the Tampa Bay Times

National reporting: David Philipps of The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo.

International reporting: Jason Szep and Andrew R.C. Marshall of Reuters

Feature writing: No award. Reporters from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dallas Morning News and Los Angeles Times were finalists.

Commentary: Stephen Henderson of the Detroit Free Press

Criticism: Inga Saffron of The Philadelphia Inquirer

Editorial writing: Editorial staff of The Oregonian, Portland

Breaking news photography: Tyler Hicks of The New York Times

Feature photography: Josh Haner of The New York Times (Beyond the Finish Line)

Fiction: "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt

Drama: "The Flick" by Annie Baker

History: "The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832" by Alan Taylor

Biography: "Margaret Fuller: A New American Life" by Megan Marshall

Poetry: "3 Sections" by Vijay Seshadri; published by Graywolf Press of Minneapolis

General nonfiction: "Toms River": A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin

Music: "Become Ocean" by John Luther Adams, premiered on June 20, 2013, by the Seattle Symphony