Carpenter was awarded the 1981 Pulitzer in Feature Writing for her account of model Dorothy Stratten's death, after it was revealed that the original winning article, by Janet Cooke of The Washington Post, was a fabrication.
The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing was awarded to Carpenter for her work on the subject of Dorothy Stratten's death after the truth behind the original winning article by Janet Cooke of The Washington Post came to light.