Washington Post, Guardian win Pulitzer for Snowden leaks

The Washington Post and The Guardian were jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday, sharing the journalistic honor for a series of revelations that lifted the veil on the U.S. government's sweeping surveillance program.

The stories, which were based on thousands of secret documents leaked to journalists at both newspapers by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, have reverberated around the globe and led to a review of snooping practices announced last month by President Barack Obama.

The award for public service, part of 14 given across a number of journalism categories including investigative reporting and breaking news, are seen as American journalism's highest honors.

The Pulitzer for investigative reporting was given to Chris Hamby of The Center for Public Integrity for reporting on the intentional restricting of benefits to sick coal miners, while the award for breaking news was awarded to The Boston Globe for its coverage of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.

The winning entries about the NSA's spy programs revealed that the government has collected information about millions of Americans' phone calls and emails based on its classified interpretations of laws passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The disclosures touched off a furious debate in the U.S. over privacy versus security and led President Barack Obama to impose limits on the surveillance.

Dave Phillips, an investigative reporter who has previously written for Al Jazeera America, also won an award for national reporting about the mistreatment of veterans after their military service.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press