The following are thePulitzer Prizes for 1988.
| Public service | The Charlotte Observer | "For revealing misuse of funds by thePTL television ministry" |
| General news reporting | Staff ofLawrence Eagle-Tribune,Massachusetts | "For an investigation that revealed serious flaws in theMassachusetts prison furlough system and led to significant statewide reforms." |
| Investigative reporting | Staff ofAlabama Journal,Montgomery, Alabama | "For its compelling investigation of the state's unusually highinfant-mortality rate, which prompted legislation to combat the problem." |
| Investigative reporting | Dean Baquet,William Gaines andAnn Marie Lipinski of theChicago Tribune | "For their detailed reporting on the self-interest and waste that plague Chicago's City Council." |
| Explanatory reporting | Daniel Hertzberg andJames B. Stewart ofThe Wall Street Journal | "For their stories about an investment banker charged withinsider trading and the critical day that followed the October 19, 1987, stock market crash." |
| Specialized Reporting | Walt Bogdanich ofThe Wall Street Journal | "For his chilling series of reports on faulty testing by American medical laboratories." |
| National reporting | Tim Weiner ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer | "For his series of reports on a secret Pentagon budget used by the government to sponsor defense research and an arms buildup." |
| International reporting | Thomas L. Friedman ofThe New York Times | "For balanced and informed coverage ofIsrael." |
| Feature writing | Jacqui Banaszynski ofSt. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch | "For her moving series about the life and death of anAIDS victim in a rural farm community." |
| Commentary | Dave Barry ofThe Miami Herald | "For his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns." |
| Criticism | Tom Shales ofThe Washington Post | "For his television criticism." |
| Editorial writing | Jane Healy ofOrlando Sentinel | "For her series of editorials protesting overdevelopment of Florida'sOrange County." |
| Editorial cartooning | Doug Marlette ofAtlanta Constitution andThe Charlotte Observer | |
| Spot news photography | Scott Shaw of Odessa American | "For his photograph of the childJessica McClure being rescued from the well into which she had fallen." |
| Feature photography | Michel du Cille ofThe Miami Herald | "For photographs portraying the decay and subsequent rehabilitation of a housing project overrun by the drugcrack." |
| Fiction | Beloved byToni Morrison (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| Drama | Driving Miss Daisy byAlfred Uhry (TCG) |
| History | The Launching of Modern American Science 1846-1876 byRobert V. Bruce (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| Biography or Autobiography | Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe byDavid Herbert Donald (Little) |
| Poetry | Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems byWilliam Meredith (Alfred A. Knopf) |
| General Nonfiction | The Making of the Atomic Bomb byRichard Rhodes (Simon & Schuster) |
| Music | 12 New Etudes for Piano byWilliam Bolcom (Edward B. Marks) Premiered March 30, 1987, byMarc-Andre Hamelin. |
