for investigative journalism for her series on Florida's insurance industry.
The prize announced Monday is considered the highest mark of excellence in U.S. journalism.
In a two-year investigation, St. John examined the arcane property insurance system and created a unique database that assessed insurer reliability.
"While hurricanes may have gotten more dangerous, the reason we are paying more is we have a whole new system driving the insurance market," said Chris Davis, St. John's editor on the series and the newspaper's assistant managing editor metro. "Insurance industry funding has become much more speculative in past decades -- you have this whole house of cards, where no one knows exactly who owns what piece of the pie when a disaster happens."
It is the Herald-Tribune's first Pulitzer, but the third time in four years it has had a finalist for the prize.
Paige St. John