The 2011 Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday at New York's Columbia University. The Music prize was awarded to a Chinese American composer for the first time.

Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, announces the results of the 95th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music at the Columbia University in New York, the United States, April 18, 2011. [Wu Kaixiang/Xinhua]

The 2011 Pulitzer Music Prize has been awarded to Chinese American composer Zhou Long for the opera "Madame White Snake", which is based on a Chinese folk tale and blends Eastern and Western musical traditions.

This year's Pulitzer Prizes were announced on Monday at New York's Columbia University. Eleven news organizations won awards this year. The Breaking News prize was not awarded.

Two reporters from non-profit online media outlet ProPublica won the National Reporting Prize for their work on the questionable Wall Street practices that contributed to the US economic crisis. It is the first time a Pulitzer has been awarded to a story that was not published in traditional print media.

The Los Angeles Times won the coveted Public Service Prize for reporting corruption in the small California city of Bell where officials were paying themselves exorbitant salaries. The paper also won the Feature Photography Prize for pictures of victims caught in the crossfire of gang violence in Los Angeles.

The Washington Post won the Breaking News Photography Prize – marking a record-breaking fourth Pulitzer won by its reporter Carol Guzy for her photographs of the Haiti earthquake.

The New York Times won the International Reporting prize for its work on Russia and the Commentary prize for David Leonhardt's articles on economics. The Wall Street Journal won the Editorial Writing prize for opinion articles challenging the U.S. health care reform.

The Pulitzer Prize is a US award for achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-born American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York.

Each year up to 14 journalism and seven arts prizes are awarded. Winners receive US$10,000. This year was the 95th time the prizes have been awarded.