The Boston Globe's Gareth Cook Wins 2005 Pulitzer Prize in Explanator

    Publishing Writers/Business Editors

    BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2005--Boston Globe reporter Gareth Cook today was awarded the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for "explaining, with clarity and humanity, the complex scientific and ethical dimensions of stem cell research."
    It was the newspaper's 18th Pulitzer since 1966 and its third in the past five years. It is the first time a Globe writer has been recognized in the Explanatory Journalism category.
    The award is given for "a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear presentation."
    Cook, who described himself as "thrilled and shocked," thanked his newsroom colleagues for their support and said "this newspaper gave me the chance to do this...these stories were exactly what I always believed journalism could be."
    In a newsroom celebration following the announcement of the award, Boston Globe editor Martin Baron congratulated Cook and told him that he "took on one of the most important but most complex subjects in science. You cut through rhetoric and political posturing with the best and most reliable tool we have -- real, on-the-ground reporting."
    "Gareth Cook certainly deserves this recognition. He has been on the front lines in covering this hugely controversial topic in a way that helps the general public understand a very complex topic," said Globe publisher Richard Gilman. "Here in Boston, where the life sciences is a major industry, it only makes sense to have the country's very best reporting on this important issue."
    Cook, 35, joined the Globe in 1999 as New England Editor and later that year became Sunday Metro Editor before turning to reporting on science - a lifelong passion - in 2000.
    A native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, he graduated from Brown University in 1991 with two bachelor's degrees - one in International Relations and the other in Mathematical Physics. He was named to the Sigma Xi and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies.
    Although he passed the Foreign Service written and oral exams after graduation, Cook pursued a career in journalism, first as an editor for Foreign Policy magazine and later as a reporter at U.S. News and World Report covering national politics. He also worked with Washington Monthly and the Boston Phoenix before joining the Globe staff.
    His wife, Amanda, is a senior editor at Houghton Mifflin. They live in Jamaica Plain with their son Aidan.
    The Globe last won a Pulitzer in 2003 when it was awarded the Gold medal for public service in recognition of its reporting on widespread clergy sexual abuse and its cover-up in the Catholic Church.

Prior Pulitzer Prizes Awarded to The Boston Globe - 17 total:

1966 Meritorious Public Service, for investigative reporting that questioned the qualifications of Francis X. Morrissey to be appointed a Federal District Judge in Massachusetts. 1972 Special Local Reporting, for a series of articles on widespread municipal corruption in the City of Somerville, Massachusetts. 1974 Editorial Cartooning, Paul Szep. 1975 Meritorious Public Service, for coverage of desegregation of Boston's public schools. 1977 Editorial Cartooning, Paul Szep. 1980 Distinguished Commentary, Ellen Goodman. 1980 Distinguished Criticism, William Henry. 1980 Special Local Reporting, for investigative reporting on waste and mismanagement inside the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1983 National Reporting, for a 56-page supplement entitled, "War and Peace in the Nuclear Age," published October 17, 1982. 1984 Special Local Reporting, for a series entitled, "Boston: The Race Factor," a six-part series on blacks in the workplace and a four-part series on comparing Boston with six other major U.S. cities. 1984 Spot News Photography, Stan Grossfeld, for photos of the effects of war in Lebanon. 1985 Feature Photography, Stan Grossfeld, for photos of hunger in Ethiopia. 1995 Distinguished Beat Reporting, David M. Shribman, for national political reporting as chief of the Globe's Washington, D.C. Bureau. 1996 Distinguished Criticism, Robert Campbell, for architectural criticism. 1997 Distinguished Commentary, Eileen McNamara, for her writing as a metro columnist. 2001 Distinguished Criticism, Gail Caldwell, for her writing as chief book critic. 2003 Meritorious Public Service, for investigative reporting on clergy sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
    The Boston Globe, New England's largest circulation newspaper and one of the top 10 Sunday and top 15 daily metropolitan newspapers in the U.S. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the New York Times Company.

    The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2004 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other newspapers, eight network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. For the fifth consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2005 list of America's Most Admired Companies. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

--30--JS/bo*

CONTACT: The Boston Globe Alfred Larkin, Jr., 617-929-3160 Sr. Vice President/General Administration and External Affairs

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PUBLISHING SOURCE: The Boston Globe

Copyright Business Wire 2005