Levy ’89 of The New York Times awarded 2nd Pulitzer Prize

Clifford Levy ’89 of The New York Times has won a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting, Columbia University announced on Monday afternoon. Levy, a former Moscow bureau chief and the recently inaugurated deputy editor of the Times’ Metro section, shared the accolade with Ellen Barry for their nine-part “Above the Law” article series that explored corruption, political and judicial misconduct and the abuse of power in post-Communist Russia, sparking heated discussion in the country.

Pulitzers are awarded annually in 21 categories and come with a prize of $10,000.

“I’m a bit tired,” Levy said of receiving his second Pulitzer. “I just flew in from Moscow on Sunday evening.”

Levy won his first Pulitzer in 2003 for investigative reporting with a three-part expose titled “Broken Homes,” which explored how mentally ill adults were being abused and neglected in nursing homes regulated by New York.

His recent series, “Above the Law,” examined issues ranging from the targeted persecution of journalists by Russian authorities to curb free speech to the trial of Oleg Orlov, the leader of the human rights organization Memorial, for accusing Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov of causing the death of human rights advocate Natalya Estemirova. The series also won Levy his third George Polk Award in February.

“The President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, often talks about how the biggest problem facing the area ... is the lack of rule of law, what he refers to as ‘legal nihilism,’ ” Levy said. He explained that, according to Medvedev, “if the country does not address this problem, it will jeopardize its own future.”

“We looked at it from a variety of areas, from political corruption and government to how it affected the country’s elite and the common Russian people,” Levy said.

According to Levy, the piece “that had the most impact” was the fifth installment, which Levy wrote on his own.

The five articles in the section explored a scandal in which Russian authorities had confiscated computers from environmental organizations, advocacy groups and newspapers that had criticized the government. The articles revealed that government authorities had confiscated the computers ostensibly to find pirated Microsoft software but with the ulterior motive of incapacitating their critics.

“The series gave me the opportunity to travel all around Russia,” Levy said of the reporting process. “We went to Siberia, we went to the Black Sea, we went all over the country ... That was really wonderful. We had the chance to really, in depth, examine some of these issues.”

Levy will continue his work with the Times’ Moscow office until the end of May, when he will return to the United States to begin his new role at the Times.

He joined the Times in 1990, shortly after graduating from the University with a degree in the Wilson School.

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A former writer and managing editor for The Daily Princetonian, Levy wrote his senior thesis on “The Rise and Decline of Rajiv Gandhi, 1984-1987,” about the then-prime minister of India who had taken office after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi and who was himself assassinated in 1991.