Pulitzer prize bypassed 'National Enquirer'

The National Enquirer failed to upset the US media establishment yesterday and land a coveted Pulitzer prize for its scoop about the extramarital affair of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

The tabloid had been nominated for two prizes for the US's top award in journalism for a series of stories about the affair, initially denied by Edwards. The Washington Post was the main winner with four prizes.

But there was a first from outside of traditional newspapers when ProPublica, a nonprofit organisation, won a prize for its work about deaths at a New Orleans medical centre after Hurricane Katrina.