LA Times Wins Pulitzer For Exposing Bell Salary Scandal
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Times won a Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for a series exposing how politicians in the struggling, working-class city of Bell, Calif., were paying themselves enormous, six-figure salaries.
The newspaper's reporting that officials in the 37,000-resident town were jacking up property taxes and other fees in part to cover the huge salaries led to arrests and the ouster of some of the city's political leaders.
The Times won a second Pulitzer for feature photography, and The New York Times won two Pulitzers for international reporting and for commentary.
But in a year in which the earthquake in Haiti and the disastrous Gulf oil spill were some of the biggest news stories, the Pulitzer Board decided not to give an award in the category of breaking news.
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