The Washington Post and The Guardian have won the Pulitzer Prize in public service for revealing the US government's sweeping surveillance efforts in stories based on thousands of secret documents handed over by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
The Pulitzer for breaking news has been awarded to The Boston Globe for its coverage of the deadly Boston Marathon bombing.
The awards, announced on Monday, are American journalism's highest honour.
The winning entries about the NSA's spy programs showed the US government has collected information about millions of Americans' phone calls and emails based on its classified interpretations of laws passed after the September 11 attacks.
The disclosures touched off a furious debate in the US over privacy versus security and led President Barack Obama to impose limits on the surveillance.
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Snowden said giving the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service to those who reported on the US government's sweeping surveillance efforts is "vindication".
Snowden issued a statement on Monday through the Freedom of the Press Foundation congratulating The Washington Post and The Guardian on their awards for stories based on documents he provided. He became a board member of the non-profit organisation earlier this year.
He said awarding the top prize in US journalism to his colleagues is "a vindication for everyone who believes that the public has a role in government".
He added that the reporters he worked with faced "extraordinary intimidation" and other pressure to get them to stop reporting.
Snowden added: "Their work has given us a better future and a more accountable democracy."
