NYT and New Yorker win joint Pulitzer for Weinstein exposé

The New York Times and New Yorker magazine have won a joint Pulitzer Prize for their reporting on sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood.

The reports brought down film mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and rape. He says all sexual encounters were consensual.

The investigations sparked the #MeToo movement, a broad pushback against sexual harassment in many industries.

Pulitzers are the most prestigious honour in American journalism.

The Pulitzer Prize Board also awards prizes in other literary and artistic categories. This year, rapper Kendrick Lamar becomes the first non-classical or jazz artist to be given the prize for music.

The Washington Post won the investigative reporting prize for revealing decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct against Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama.

The Republican former judge denied the accusations, but they factored heavily in the special election that the Democratic candidate Doug Jones went on to win.

The New York Times also shared a second prize with The Washington Post for coverage of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

The biggest prize winners revealed on Monday reflected a recent reckoning in the US - and beyond - over the treatment of women by powerful men in the highest ranks of showbusiness, politics, technology and media.

Pulitzer administrator Dana Canedy said the New York Times' team, led by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, and The New Yorker's contributor Ronan Farrow produced "explosive, impactful journalism that exposed wealthy and powerful sexual predators."

Their separate, original reporting in October of allegations of assault and harassment by Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was followed by more than 100 women coming forward to share their experiences at the hands of the film producer.

Mr Weinstein - who was ousted from the company he founded - went on to apologise for his behaviour but denied any non-consensual sexual contact.

The 66-year-old has been hit by a number of civil lawsuits and is being investigated by police in London, Los Angeles and New York.

The exposé led to the watershed #MeToo movement, with thousands of women across the world empowered to speak out about sexual harassment they have faced in their lives.

Other Pulitzer winners included Reuters, which won the 2018 prize in international reporting for coverage of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.

The news agency also won in the feature photography category for its coverage of the Rohingya crisis, which saw an exodus of 700,000 refugees from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

The Pulitzers have been awarded since 1917. More than 2,400 entries were submitted for prizes in categories ranging from public service and breaking news to commentary, cartooning and photography.