Journalism awards
- Public Service:
- The Philadelphia Inquirer, for a series of articles showing abuses of power by the police in its home city.
- Local General or Spot News Reporting:
- Richard Whitt of the Louisville Courier-Journal, for his coverage of a fire that took 164 lives at the Beverly Hills Supper Club at Southgate, Kentucky, and subsequent investigation of the lack of enforcement of state fire codes.
- Local Investigative Specialized Reporting:
- Anthony R. Dolan of the Stamford Advocate (Connecticut), for a series on municipal corruption.
- National Reporting:
- Gaylord D. Shaw of the Los Angeles Times, for a series on unsafe structural conditions at the nation's major dams.
- International Reporting:
- Henry Kamm of The New York Times, for his stories on the refugees, boat people, from Indochina.
- Commentary:
- William Safire of The New York Times, for commentary on the Bert Lance affair.
- Criticism:
- Walter Kerr of The New York Times, for articles on the theater in 1977 and throughout his long career.
- Editorial Writing:
- Meg Greenfield, deputy editorial page editor of The Washington Post, for selected samples of her work.
- Editorial Cartooning:
- Spot News Photography:
- John H. Blair, special assignment photographer for United Press International, for a photograph of an Indianapolis broker being held hostage at gunpoint by Anthony Kiritsis.
The prize-winning spot news photograph
The prize-winning set of feature photographs
- Feature Photography:
- J. Ross Baughman of Associated Press, for three photographs from guerrilla areas in Rhodesia.
