Top American journalism recognised - Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize

Refugees arriving at Lesbos. Photo / Sergey Ponomarev/The New York Times/Columbia University via AP

The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for documenting the use of slave labour in Southeast Asia to supply seafood to American tables - an investigation that spurred the release of captive workers.

The Los Angeles Times was awarded the breaking news prize for its coverage of the shooting rampage in San Bernardino, California, and the Washington Post received the national reporting award for an examination of killings by police in the US.

Syrian refugees on Kos. Photo / Alkis Konstantinidis/Thomson Reuters/Columbia University via AP

The New Yorker was honoured in the criticism and feature writing categories, which only recently were opened to magazines. The New York Times won for international reporting for detailing the plight of Afghan women, and picked up the breaking news photography prize for images of refugees. Thomson Reuters was honoured in the same photography category for its pictures of migrants.

The awards marked the centennial of the Pulitzers, American journalism's highest honours. The drama prize went to hip-hop musical Hamilton, a Broadway sensation.

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