Agence France-Presse and the news websites Huffington Post and Politico each won their first Pulitzer Prizes on Monday as the prestigious journalism awards highlighted global issues and online reporting.

The Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism. The report revealed the New York Police Department's widespread spying on Muslims, while The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and a 24-year-old reporter captured the award for local reporting for breaking the Penn State scandal that ultimately brought down Joe Paterno.

In a reflection of the forces reshaping the media world, the turmoil-ridden Philadelphia Inquirer won in the public service category for exposing pervasive violence in the city's schools, while David Wood earned a Pulitzer in national reporting for a relative newcomer, The Huffington Post, for stories about the suffering endured by American troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It was only the second Pulitzer ever awarded for reporting that appeared online only.

Another Pulitzer for investigative reporting was awarded to The Seattle Times for a series about accidental methadone overdoses among patients with chronic pain.

The New York Times won two Pulitzers. David Kocieniewski was honored in the explanatory reporting category for a series on how wealthy people and corporations use loopholes to avoid taxes. Jeffrey Gettleman received the award for international reporting for his coverage of famine and conflict in East Africa.

Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes, said the winners in this year's 96th annual competition show that journalism is still a ‘vibrant force’ as a watchdog for the public.

The committee notably did not make awards for editorial writing or fiction in a year, which saw Web journalism mark further gains.

Prize for Afghan photograph

AFP's Massoud Hossaini won the award for breaking news photography ‘for his heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber's attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul’, the committee announced.

His photograph published on December 7 shows young Tarana Akbari screaming after a suicide bomber detonated a bomb in a crowd at the Abul Fazel Shrine in Kabul on December 6.

"When I could stand up, I saw that everybody was around me on the ground, really bloody. I was really, really scared," said the girl, whose name means "melody," and whose age has been given as either 10 or 12.

Sig Gissler, the Pulitzer administrator, called the AFP picture ‘one single riveting photograph’, and ‘a picture you will long remember’.

Here is the entire list of winners, with comments from judges:

Journalism

Public service: The Philadelphia Inquirer for its exploration of pervasive violence in the city's schools, using powerful print narratives and videos to illuminate crimes committed by children against children and to stir reforms to improve safety for teachers and students.

Breaking news reporting: The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News staff for its enterprising coverage of a deadly tornado, using social media as well as traditional reporting to provide real-time updates, help locate missing people and produce in-depth print accounts even after power disruption forced the paper to publish at another plant 50 miles away.

Investigative reporting: Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan and Chris Hawley of The Associated Press for their spotlighting of the New York Police Department's clandestine spying program that monitored daily life in Muslim communities, resulting in congressional calls for a federal investigation, and a debate over the proper role of domestic intelligence gathering; and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong of The Seattle Times for their investigation of how a little known governmental body in Washington state moved vulnerable patients from safer pain-control medication to methadone, a cheaper but more dangerous drug, coverage that prompted statewide health warnings.

Explanatory reporting: David Kocieniewski of The New York Times for his lucid series that penetrated a legal thicket to explain how the nation's wealthiest citizens and corporations often exploited loopholes and avoided taxes.

Local reporting: Sara Ganim and members of The Patriot-News staff, Harrisburg, Pa., for courageously revealing and adeptly covering the explosive Penn State sex scandal involving former football coach Jerry Sandusky.

National reporting: David Wood of The Huffington Post for his riveting exploration of the physical and emotional challenges facing American soldiers severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan during a decade of war.

International reporting: Jeffrey Gettleman of The New York Times for his vivid reports, often at personal peril, on famine and conflict in East Africa, a neglected but increasingly strategic part of the world.

Feature writing: Eli Sanders of The Stranger, a Seattle weekly, for his haunting story of a woman who survived a brutal attack that took the life of her partner, using the woman's brave courtroom testimony and the details of the crime to construct a moving narrative.

Commentary: Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune for her wide range of down-to-earth columns that reflect the character and capture the culture of her famed city.

Criticism: Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe for his smart, inventive film criticism, distinguished by pinpoint prose and an easy traverse between the art house and the big-screen box office.

Editorial writing: No award.

Editorial cartooning: Matt Wuerker of Politico for his consistently fresh, funny cartoons, especially memorable for lampooning the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington.

Breaking news photography: Massoud Hossaini of Agence France-Presse for his heartbreaking image of a girl crying in fear after a suicide bomber's attack at a crowded shrine in Kabul.

Feature photography: Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post for his compassionate chronicle of an honorably discharged veteran, home from Iraq and struggling with a severe case of post-traumatic stress, images that enable viewers to better grasp a national issue.

Arts

Fiction: No award.

Drama: Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes, an imaginative play about the search for meaning by a returning Iraq war veteran working in a sandwich shop in his hometown of Philadelphia.

History: ‘Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention’ by the late Manning Marable (Viking), an exploration of the legendary life and provocative views of one of the most significant African-Americans in U.S. history. (moved by the Board from the Biography category.)

Biography: ‘George F. Kennan: An American Life’ by John Lewis Gaddis (The Penguin Press), a portrait of a globe-trotting diplomat whose complicated life was interwoven with the Cold War and America's emergence as the world's dominant power.

Poetry: ‘Life on Mars’ by Tracy K. Smith (Graywolf Press), a collection of bold, skillful poems, taking readers into the universe and moving them to an authentic mix of joy and pain.

General nonfiction: ‘The Swerve: How the World Became Modern’ by Stephen Greenblatt (W.W. Norton and Co.), a provocative book arguing that an obscure work of philosophy, discovered nearly 600 years ago, changed the course of history by anticipating the science and sensibilities of today.

Music: ‘Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts’ by Kevin Puts, commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis on Nov. 12, 2011, a stirring opera that recounts the true story of a spontaneous cease-fire among Scottish, French and Germans during World War I, displaying versatility of style and cutting straight to the heart. Libretto by Mark Campbell (Aperto Press).