ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Times has won its 13th Pulitzer Prize.
Reporters Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi earned the Local Reporting award for “Targeted,” a yearlong investigation into how the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office uses computer modeling to identify and track people believed to be future crime suspects.
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The awards were announced Friday during a remote ceremony that honored the best work in journalism and the arts in 2020, a year upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the racial reckoning after the police killing of George Floyd and the U.S. presidential election.
“What Kathleen and Neil unearthed in Pasco County has had a profound impact on the community,” Times executive editor Mark Katches said in a statement. “This is what the best investigative journalism can do and why it is so essential.”
The award marks the third time the Times has won the Pulitzer Prize in the Local Reporting category.
“We aim to keep our standards high and our focus on Tampa Bay,” Times chairman and CEO Paul Tash said in a statement. “It’s wonderful affirmation when our efforts are recognized with the prize that sets the gold standard for journalism.”