Coverage of coronavirus, George Floyd, racial issues sweeps 2021 Pulitzers

Coverage of the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic and the George Floyd protests dominated the Pulitzer Prize awards this years, reflecting the last year of simultaneous crises involving both the spread of COVID-19 and the months of protests, activism and racial reckoning that gripped the U.S. following the police-involved killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. 

The New York Times took home a Pulitzer for its "courageous, prescient and sweeping coverage of the coronavirus pandemic that exposed racial and economic inequities [and] government failures in the U.S. and beyond," the Pulitzer board announced on Friday. 

The newspaper also "filled a data vacuum that helped local governments, healthcare providers, businesses and individuals to be better prepared and protected," the board said. 

An award also went to the staff of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune for the paper's "urgent, authoritative and nuanced coverage of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis and of the reverberations that followed."

Several other winners were also honored for coverage related to racial issues and the pandemic. 

A special award also went to Darnella Frazier, a Minneapolis resident, for "courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists' quest for truth and justice."