It is one of the most prestigious honors bestowed upon journalists and people in the arts. And today, the Pulitzer prize for journalism went to The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston, South Carolina  - which has a tiny staff of just 80 and a daily circulation of 85,000. The paper's powerful photo series entitled 'Till Death Do Us Part,' on domestic violence scooped the top award for its exploration into why South Carolina is among the deadliest states  for women. Scroll down for video . Winner: This iconic photo by New York Times photographer Daniel Berehulak, was part of a winning series, and shows James Dorbor, 8, suspected of being infected with Ebola, being carried by medical staff to an Ebola treatment center in Monrovia, Liberia . Death: This photograph released by the Pulitzer Board on 20 April 2015 shows one of the winning photographs by Daniel Berehulak who won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography . The newspaper was awarded the gold medal for public service, the first time in five years that the prize has gone to such a small newspaper. Last year, the award went to The Washington Post and The Guardian for their coverage of National Security Agency documents leaked by the former government contractor Edward J. Snowden. Executive editor Mitch Pugh said reporters saw annual statistics which ranked South Carolina as the state where the most women are killed by men, according to The New York Times. 'The discussion around the table in the newsroom was why is that. We've written about it every year, but we've never done the deep dive.' The small newspaper's photographs were just one of many by news organizations which looked at the key news events which gripped the nation and international community over the past year. Some of the most vivid portraits came from the New York Times which ran a series of heartbreaking images of the Ebola outbreak as it gripped countries in West Africa. The newspaper won three Pulitzer prizes for international reporting and feature photography for its coverage of the West Africa Ebola outbreak. The Pulitzer committee at Columbia University in New York said The New York Times staff shared the prize for international reporting for its coverage of the deadly Ebola epidemic in west Africa. New York Times reporter Eric Lipton took the prize for investigative reporting on the influence of lobbyists. And freelance photographer for the paper, Daniel Berehulak, won the feature photography award for his Ebola coverage. Heartbreaking: This September 18, 2014, photo by New York Times photographer Daniel Berehulak, part of a winning series, shows Eric Gweah, 25, weeping as a burial team removes the body of his 62-year-old father, who died at home, arms thrashing and blood spewing from his mouth, in front of his sons after being turned away at the treatment centers in Monrovia, Liberia . Ebola: Another award winning photograph by New York Times photographer Daniel Berehulak shows a relative grieving as a Liberian Red Cross burial team dresses in protective clothing before removing the body of a suspected Ebola victim in central Monrovia, Liberia . The Pulitzer prizes, awarded annually by Columbia University, recognize extraordinary work in U.S. journalism, literature, drama, and other categories. The award is officially given out on April 20. Other winners of the coveted award included the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It received the Pulitzer prize in photography for its coverage of the Ferguson, Missouri riots in the wake of the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson. Awards: This October 19 2014 photo by St. Louis Post Dispatch photographer David Carson shows Ferguson protester Cheyenne Green struggling to hold onto an American flag as a football fan makes a grab for it outside the Edward Jones Dome after a St. Louis Rams game . Ferguson: In this August 10, 2014, photo by St. Louis Post-Dispatch photographer David Carson, a looter armed with a gun in his waistband steals items from a QuikTrip store after riots broke out at the end of a candlelight vigil for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The store was later set on fire . Photo: This August 13, 2014, photo by St. Louis Post Dispatch photographer Robert Cohen shows Edward Crawford returning a tear gas canister fired by police who were trying to disperse protesters in Ferguson, Missouri.  Four days earlier, unarmed black teenager Michael Brown was shot to death by white police officer Darren Wilson. The killing ignited riots and unrest in the St. Louis area and across the nation . The images managed to capture the despair and anger felt by residents in the small town after the shooting of the black teenager by Wilson. Other winners included The Seattle Times staff for its coverage of a deadly landslide. The Wall Street Journal was also honored for 'Medicare Unmasked,' and Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig received praise for coverage of security lapses at the Secret Service. Author, Anthony Doerr [Scribner], won the top prize in fiction for 'All the Light We Cannot See' an imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II. The book follows a blind French girl who joins the resistance movement and an orphaned German boy who gets swept up in the Nazi occupation. He was praised for writing in short, elegant chapters that explored human nature and the contradictory power of technology. Literary: Anthony Doerr, seen here on November 19, 2014 in New York City, won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction . JOURNALISM . Breaking News Reporting: . The Seattle Times staff won for its digital account of a landslide that killed 43 people and the impressive follow-up reporting that explored whether the calamity could have been avoided. Investigative Reporting: The Wall Street Journal staff for 'Medicare Unmasked,' a pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers; and Eric Lipton, of The New York Times, for reporting that showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected. Explanatory Reporting: Zachary R. Mider, of Bloomberg News, for a painstaking, clear and entertaining explanation of how so many U.S. corporations dodge taxes and why lawmakers and regulators have a hard time stopping them. Local Reporting: Rob Kuznia, Rebecca Kimitch and Frank Suraci, of the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Calif., for their inquiry into widespread corruption in a small, cash-strapped school district, including impressive use of the paper's website. National Reporting: Carol D. Leonnig, of The Washington Post, for her smart, persistent coverage of the Secret Service, its security lapses and the ways in which the agency neglected its vital task: the protection of the president of the United States. International Reporting: The New York Times staff for courageous front-line reporting and vivid human stories on Ebola in Africa, engaging the public with the scope and details of the outbreak while holding authorities accountable. Feature Writing: Diana Marcum, of the Los Angeles Times, for her dispatches from California's Central Valley offering nuanced portraits of lives affected by the state's drought, bringing an original and empathic perspective to the story. Commentary: Lisa Falkenberg, of the Houston Chronicle, for vividly written, groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems. Criticism: Mary McNamara, of the Los Angeles Times, for savvy criticism that uses shrewdness, humor and an insider's view to show how both subtle and seismic shifts in the cultural landscape affect television. Editorial Writing: Kathleen Kingsbury, of The Boston Globe, for taking readers on a tour of restaurant workers' bank accounts to expose the real price of inexpensive menu items and the human costs of income inequality. Editorial Cartooning: Adam Zyglis, of The Buffalo News, who used strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in a few words. Breaking News Photography: St. Louis Post-Dispatch photography staff for powerful images of the despair and anger in Ferguson, Missouri, stunning photojournalism that served the community while informing the country. Feature Photography: Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer for The New York Times, for his gripping, courageous photographs of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Public Service: The Post and Courier, of Charleston, South Carolina, for 'Till Death Do Us Part,' a riveting series that probed why South Carolina is among the deadliest states in the union for women and put the issue of what to do about it on the state's agenda. LETTERS AND DRAMA . Fiction: 'All the Light We Cannot See' by Anthony Doerr (Scribner), an imaginative and intricate novel inspired by the horrors of World War II and written in short, elegant chapters that explore human nature and the contradictory power of technology. Drama: 'Between Riverside and Crazy,' by Stephen Adly Guirgis, a nuanced, beautifully written play about a retired police officer faced with eviction that uses dark comedy to confront questions of life and death. History: 'Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People,' by Elizabeth A. Fenn (Hill and Wang), an engrossing, original narrative showing the Mandans, a Native American tribe in the Dakotas, as a people with a history. Biography or Autobiography: 'The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe,' by David I. Kertzer (Random House), an engrossing dual biography that uses recently opened Vatican archives to shed light on two men who exercised nearly absolute power over their realms. Poetry: 'Digest,' by Gregory Pardlo (Four Way Books), clear-voiced poems that bring readers the news from 21st Century America, rich with thought, ideas and histories public and private. General Nonfiction: 'The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History,' by Elizabeth Kolbert (Henry Holt), an exploration of nature that forces readers to consider the threat posed by human behavior to a world of astonishing diversity. MUSIC: 'Anthracite Fields,' by Julia Wolfe, premiered on April 26, 2014, in Philadelphia by the Bang on a Can All-Stars and the Mendelssohn Club Chorus, a powerful oratorio for chorus and sextet evoking Pennsylvania coal-mining life around the turn of the 20th Century (Red Poppy Music/G. Schirmer Inc.)
The Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston, South Carolina was awarded the gold medal for public service .
Meanwhile, The New York Times won three Pulitzer prizes for international reporting and feature photography for its Ebola coverage in West Africa .
The Pulitzer prizes, awarded annually by Columbia University recognize extraordinary work in U.S. journalism, literature, and drama .
Other winners included: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Seattle Times and The Wall Street Journal for their contributions .