Paper from South Carolina wins coveted 2015 Pulitzer

The 2015 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday with The Post and Courier from Charleston, South Carolina, receiving the most coveted Public Service prize.

The Post and Courier's "Till Death Do Us Part" is a riveting series that probed why South Carolina is among "the deadliest states in the union for women" and put the issue of what to do about it on the state's agenda.

In the 14 Journalism categories, there was a robust competition with finalists coming from 24 different news organizations. Winners represented 12 organizations, with The New York Times and Los Angeles Times winning three and two awards respectively.

The board awarded two Pulitzer Prizes in Investigative Reporting, one to Eric Lipton of The New York Times and one to The Wall Street Journal staff.

Lipton's report showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected.

The Wall Street Journal staff won the award for "Medicare Unmasked," a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers.

The prize for Explanatory Reporting went to Zachary R. Mider of Bloomberg News for a painstaking, clear and entertaining explanation of how so many U.S. corporations dodge taxes and why lawmakers and regulators have a hard time stopping them.

The Pulitzer Prize was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City. Each winner receives a certificate and a 10,000-U.S.-dollar cash award. Endi