Washington Post, Guardian win Pulitzers for NSA revelations, Snowden says prize a 'vindication'

The Pulitzer for international reporting was awarded to Jason Szep and Andrew RC Marshall of Reuters for their coverage of the violent persecution of a Muslim minority in Myanmar.

The Oregonian won for editorial writing for its focus on reforms in Oregon's public employee pension fund. The prize was the third in the newspaper's history for editorial writing.

The Tampa Bay Times' Will Hobson and Michael LaForgia in Florida won in local reporting for writing about squalid housing for the homeless.

"These reporters faced long odds. They had to visit dicey neighborhoods late at night. They had to encourage county officials to be courageous and come forth with records,'' said Neil Brown, Tampa Bay Times editor and vice president. "And in the end, what they were ultimately doing was standing up for people who had no champion and no advocate.''

The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic Inga Saffron won for criticism. At Charlotte Observer, Kevin Siers received the award for editorial cartooning.

No award was handed out for feature writing.

Post's Gelman said the NSA stories were the product of the "most exhilarating and frightening year of reporting.''

"I'm especially proud of the category,'' he said. "Public service feels like a validation of our belief in the face of some pretty strong criticism that the people have a right to take part in drawing the boundaries of secret intelligence in a democracy.''