The McClatchy Washington Bureau’s coverage of the CIA interrogation program and ensuing Senate investigation earned accolades Monday, with three bureau reporters getting the nod as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.
McClatchy reporters Marisa Taylor and Jonathan S. Landay and former bureau intern and reporter Ali Watkins won the finalist honors for their yearlong reporting that included numerous scoops, insights and revelations.
“It was the story for a significant period of time across the nation,” McClatchy Co. President and Chief Executive Officer Patrick J. Talamantes noted in a midafternoon meeting with bureau staffers.
Taylor, Landay and Watkins, who is now a reporter for the Huffington Post, were named finalists along with two reporters from The New York Times, who were recognized for their coverage of the Florida State University football program. The National Reporting prize went to Carol D. Leonnig of the Washington Post for her coverage of the Secret Service.
The McClatchy team became the second from the McClatchy Washington Bureau to reach the Pulitzer Prize finals. Reporters Greg Gordon, Chris Adams and Kevin G. Hall were tapped in 2010 for their coverage of Goldman Sachs and the U.S. economic meltdown.
James Asher, McClatchy’s Washington bureau chief, said the coverage demonstrated the company’s “commitment to independent, aggressive journalism.”
“All of us feel like we were able to do this work because of the support from the bureau,” Taylor said.
The 10 stories included in the McClatchy prize entry revealed that the White House was withholding myriad documents from Senate investigators. The McClatchy reporters laid bare important details about the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program as well as the conflicts between investigators and the intelligence agency.
“It was the coolest experience ever covering this story,” said Watkins, 23. “I wouldn’t trade the experience of covering this story for anything.”
Landay, the bureau’s national security reporter, recalled staking out sources in freezing, midwinter weather.
“This was a serious team effort, and it involved good old-fashioned, shoe-leather reporting,” Landay said.
Stories in the series
- March 4, 2014: Probe: Did the CIA spy on the U.S. Senate?
- March 6, 2014: FBI probing alleged removal of documents from CIA by Senate staffers
- March 7, 2014: Senate Intelligence panel staffers took secret CIA papers years before agency discovered them missing
- March 11, 2014: Feinstein: CIA may have violated Constitution with monitoring of Senate staffers
- March 12, 2014: White House withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe, despite vows of help
- April 11, 2014: CIA’s use of harsh interrogation went beyond legal authority, Senate report says
- July 25, 2014: After CIA gets secret whistleblower email, Congress worries about more spying
- Aug. 8, 2014: In Senate-CIA fight on interrogation report, another controversy
- Oct. 16, 2014: Senate's inquiry into CIA torture sidesteps blaming Bush, aides
- Dec. 30, 2014: Intelligence, defense whistleblowers remain mired in broken system