Washington Post building/via Flickr Creative Commons

The NSA programs, made public by former U.S. government contractor Edward Snowden, were revealed in a series of articles published by the Washington Post and The Guardian.

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The work by the two news organizations have dominated news budgets for the past year and have played a role in major systemic changes in the U.S. intelligence community.

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Many analysts have also credited the reports to altering the way the U.S. governs the internet, with the Department of Commerce recently announcing that it would relinquish its control of ICANN, the global non-profit organizations that controls the internet's domain name system.

The Pulitzer Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in journalism and literature.

View the complete list of winners and finalists for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize.

Read more about the 2014 Pulitzer Prize recipients at the Los Angeles Times and Reuters.

Reach Associate News Editor Colin Hale here. Follow him on Twitter.