The Washington Post scooped a record six award at last night’s Pulitzer Prize ceremony including the Breaking News prize for its ‘multi-faceted’ online and print coverage of last April’s Virginia Tech shootings.

As the tragedy unfolded, the Washington Post covered the event in print and in multimedia online, providing what the Pulitzer Board described as ‘exceptional coverage’.

The Post provided profiles of each of the 32 victims as well as the killer, Seung-Hui Cho, and wrote about the failure of the university’s mental health services to react to warning signs or help Cho.

It also won prizes for public service, feature writing, national reporting, international affairs and commentary.