NEW YORK – The Denver Post won a Pulitzer Prize on Monday for its coverage of the movie-theater massacre in Aurora, Colo., while the New York Times captured four awards for reporting on the rise of a new aristocracy in China, the business practices of Apple and Wal-Mart, and a harrowing avalanche.

The Associated Press received the award in breaking-news photography for its coverage of the civil war in Syria.

The online publication InsideClimate News won the Pulitzer for national reporting for its reports on problems in the regulation of the nation's oil pipelines.

The Sun Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., received the public service award for an investigation of off-duty police officers' reckless driving, and longtime Pulitzer powerhouses the Wall Street Journal and the ­Washington Post were recognized for commentary and ­criticism, respectively.

Cheers erupted in the Denver Post's newsroom when word came that the newspaper had won the Pulitzer in the breaking news category for its coverage of the shooting that killed 12 people during a midnight showing of a new "Batman" movie last summer. The honor was bittersweet for some, and people teared up and hugged each other.

The Pulitzers, journalism's highest honor, are given out each year by Columbia University on the recommendation of a board of journalists and others. Each award carries a $10,000 prize except for the public service award, which is a gold medal.

In opinion writing categories, Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal received the commentary award for ­columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics. The judges noted that his writing is "often enlivened by a contrarian twist."

The Washington Post's chief art critic, Philip Kennicott, was honored for a series of works that include his writings on the Corcoran Gallery of Art, a popular image of the first family, and exhibitions in Washington. Judges praised his ­"eloquent and passionate essays on art and the social forces that ­underlie it."

The editorial writing award went to Tim Nickens and Daniel Ruth of the Tampa Bay Times for a series of editorials that helped reverse a decision to end fluoridation of the water supply in Pinellas County, home to 700,000 people. Formerly the St. Petersburg Times, the newspaper is owned by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

ASSOCIATED PRESS