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DALLAS - The 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography was awarded Monday to a Dallas Morning News team for its visual narrative of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
The announcement marked the eighth time the newspaper has won journalism's most prestigious award, the fourth time it has done so for photography.
The winning entry was a portfolio of 20 photographs, depicting the storm's fury and its human aftermath, captured by photographers Michael Ainsworth, Melanie Burford, Barbara Davidson, Tom Fox, Brad Loper, Michael Mulvey, Smiley N. Pool and Irwin Thompson.
Three of the newspaper's photographers were waiting in the path of the hurricane when it struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Others replaced them as the drama unfolded, and the newspaper had a continuing presence there until November.
William Snyder, director of photography, praised the work of the photo department, both the staff on the scene and those supporting the effort in Dallas.
"In my mind, the entire department contributed to this. There were good photographs from every person involved in this, and the people who didn't work directly on the hurricane coverage contributed by filling in back here," Snyder said.
He also praised the newspaper's management for its support.
"They believed in this from the beginning," he said.
Editors and photographers took turns standing atop the photo assignment desk to offer congratulations and speeches.
Dallas Morning News Editor Robert W. Mong Jr. noted that staff members had performed under primitive and sometimes dangerous conditions.
"The courage, perseverance and heroics of the staff under really horrific circumstances have won our admiration," he said.
The celebratory mood turned quiet when Davidson, on a speakerphone from Israel where she is on assignment, reminded the staff of the storm's victims.
"It was such a terrible tragedy for so many people," she said. "I would hope that we could honor them now."
Her sentiments were echoed moments later by Burford, who told her colleagues that in covering the storm's aftermath in New Orleans, "you were often put in the role of counselor and sometimes therapist. I think about all the pain that came out of that city, that came into Dallas (with the evacuees) and that remains there today."
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(c) 2006, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.
