Your trusted source

The Guardian and Washington Post have shared the Pulitzer Prize for public service journalism for a series of stories on US electronic spying, the BBC reported.

Their reporting was based on documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Among other winners of the top prize in US journalism was the Boston Globe, for breaking news reporting.

Two staff writers of the Reuters news agency were awarded the prize for international reporting.

The Pulitzer Prizes are awarded by the Columbia University journalism school.

In giving the top prize to The Guardian US and the Washington Post, the Pulitzer committee said the Guardian helped "through aggressive reporting to spark a debate about the relationship between the government and the public over issues of security and privacy."

It said the Post's stories were "marked by authoritative and insightful reports that helped the public understand how the disclosures fit into the larger framework of national security."

Mr Snowden, in a statement published by The Guardian, called the award "a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government.

"We owe it to the efforts of the brave reporters and their colleagues who kept working in the face of extraordinary intimidation," added Mr Snowden, who has been charged with espionage in the US and is currently a fugitive in Russia.

Meanwhile, the Boston Globe provided "exhaustive and empathetic coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the ensuing manhunt that enveloped the city", the committee wrote of the paper's coverage of the 15 April 2013 attack.

Chris Hamby of the Center for Public Integrity was awarded a Pulitzer for his reporting on how lawyers and doctors conspired to deny benefits to coal miners stricken with black lung disease.