Plenty of business journalist finalists in Pulitzers

While there was just one Pulitzer Prize given to business and economics journalism this year, there were at least five finalists from the field of business reporting.

The New York Times was a finalist in the public service category for “its comprehensive coverage of the economic meltdown of 2008, setting a standard for depth and sophistication while making the arcane world of finance and banking accessible to an often bewildered public.”

Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times was a finalist in the investigative reporting category for “his meticulously researched stories that, in the face of threats, exposed financial abuses by the head of California’s largest union, leading to investigations, the leader’s departure from office and repayment of misappropriated funds.”

Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Brady Dennis of the Washington Post were finalists in the explanatory reporting category “for their vivid, richly documented explanation of why AIG, the insurance industry giant, nearly collapsed and what lessons the crisis holds for the nation’s policymakers.”

The staff of The Wall Street Journal was a finalist in the national reporting category for “its highly detailed coverage of the collapse of America’s financial system, explicating key decisions, capturing the sense of calamity and charting the human toll.”

And Paul Krugman of the New York Times was a finalist in the commentary category “for his prophetic columns on economic peril during a year of financial calamity, blending the scholarly knowledge of a distinguished economist with the skill of a wordsmith.”

See all of the finalists here.