Pulitzer

2023 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism

There are 22 Pulitzer categories. In 21 of those categories the winners receive a $15,000 cash award and a certificate. Only the winner in the Public Service category of the Journalism competition is awarded the gold medal. The Public Service prize is always awarded to a news organization, not an individual. Thirteen of the news organization recipients are listed below. (Award information provided by the Pulitzer organization.)

Public Service awarded to the Associated Press, for the work of Mstyslav Chernov, Evgeniy Maloletka, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Lori Hinnant for “Courageous reporting from the besieged city of Mariupol that bore witness to the slaughter of civilians in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Breaking News Reporting awarded to the Staff of the Los Angeles Times for “Revealing a secretly recorded conversation among city officials that included racist comments, followed by coverage of the rapidly resulting turmoil and deeply reported pieces that delved further into the racial issues affecting local politics.”

Investigative Reporting awarded to the Staff of The Wall Street Journal for “Sharp accountability reporting on financial conflicts of interest among officials at 50 federal agencies, revealing those who bought and sold stocks they regulated and other ethical violations by individuals charged with safeguarding the public’s interest.”

Explanatory Reporting awarded to Caitlin Dickerson of The Atlantic for “Deeply reported and compelling accounting of the Trump administration policy that forcefully separated migrant children from their parents, resulting in abuses that have persisted under the current administration.”

Local Reporting awarded to Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today, for “Reporting that revealed how a former Mississippi governor used his office to steer millions of state welfare dollars to benefit his family and friends, including NFL quarterback Brett Favre.”
PLUS
John Archibald, Ashley Remkus, Ramsey Archibald and Challen Stephens of AL.com, Birmingham for “A series exposing how the police force in the town of Brookside preyed on residents to inflate revenue, coverage that prompted the resignation of the police chief, four new laws and a state audit.”

National Reporting awarded to Caroline Kitchener of The Washington Post for “Unflinching reporting that captured the complex consequences of life after Roe v. Wade, including the story of a Texas teenager who gave birth to twins after new restrictions denied her an abortion.”

International Reporting awarded to the Staff of The New York Times for their “Unflinching coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including an eight-month investigation into Ukrainian deaths in the town of Bucha and the Russian unit responsible for the killings.”

Feature Writing awarded to Eli Saslow of The Washington Post for “Evocative individual narratives about people struggling with the pandemic, homelessness, addiction and inequality that collectively form a sharply-observed portrait of contemporary America.”

Editorial Writing awarded to the Miami Herald Editorial Board, for a series written by Amy Driscoll: “Editorials on the failure of Florida public officials to deliver on many taxpayer-funded amenities and services promised to residents over decades.”

Breaking News Photography awarded to the Photography Staff of Associated Press “For unique and urgent images from the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including the devastation of Mariupol after other news organizations left, victims of the targeting of civilian infrastructure and the resilience of the Ukrainian people who were able to flee.”

Feature Photography awarded to Christina House of the Los Angeles Times for “An intimate look into the life of a pregnant 22-year-old woman living on the street in a tent–images that show her emotional vulnerability as she tries and ultimately loses the struggle to raise her child.”

Audio Reporting awarded to Staff of Gimlet Media, notably Connie Walker, “Whose investigation into her father’s troubled past revealed a larger story of abuse of hundreds of Indigenous children at an Indian residential school in Canada, including other members of Walker’s extended family, a personal search for answers expertly blended with rigorous investigative reporting.”

Congratulations to all the recipients!

 

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2022 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism

 

 

 

 

The 2022 winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Journalism have been announced. The Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category. Congratulations to all the talented writers and staffs! (Descriptions of the Public Service Category, as well as the individual awards, are credited to the Pulitzer site) Click on the links (in brown) to learn more about the winners.

 

The Washington Post Public Service Category
For its compellingly told and vividly presented account of the assault on Washington on January 6, 2021, providing the public with a thorough and unflinching understanding of one of the nation’s darkest days.

 

Staff of the Miami Herald Breaking News Reporting
For its urgent yet sweeping coverage of the collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium complex, merging clear and compassionate writing with comprehensive news and accountability reporting.

 

Corey G. Johnson, Rebecca Woolington and Eli Murray of the Tampa Bay Times Investigative Reporting
For a compelling exposé of highly toxic hazards inside Florida’s only battery recycling plant that forced the implementation of safety measures to adequately protect workers and nearby residents.

 

Staff of Quanta Magazine, New York, N.Y., notably Natalie Wolchover Explanatory Reporting
For coverage that revealed the complexities of building the James Webb Space Telescope, designed to facilitate groundbreaking astronomical and cosmological research.

 

Madison Hopkins of the Better Government Association and Cecilia Reyes of the Chicago Tribune Local Reporting
For a piercing examination of the city’s long history of failed building- and fire-safety code enforcement, which let scofflaw landlords commit serious violations that resulted in dozens of unnecessary deaths.

 

Staff of The New York Times National Reporting
For an ambitious project that quantified a disturbing pattern of fatal traffic stops by police, illustrating how hundreds of deaths could have been avoided and how officers typically avoided punishment.

 

Staff of The New York Times, notably Azmat Khan, contributing writer International Reporting
For courageous and relentless reporting that exposed the vast civilian toll of U.S.-led airstrikes, challenging official accounts of American military engagements in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. (Moved by the Board from the Public Service category, where it was also nominated.)

 

Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic Feature Writing
For an unflinching portrait of a family’s reckoning with loss in the 20 years since 9/11, masterfully braiding the author’s personal connection to the story with sensitive reporting that reveals the long reach of grief.

 

Melinda Henneberger of The Kansas City Star Commentary
For persuasive columns demanding justice for alleged victims of a retired police detective accused of being a sexual predator.

 

Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic at large, The New York Times Criticism
For learned and stylish writing about Black stories in art and popular culture–work that successfully bridges academic and nonacademic critical discourse.

 

Lisa Falkenberg, Michael Lindenberger, Joe Holley and Luis Carrasco of the Houston Chronicle Editorial Writing
For a campaign that, with original reporting, revealed voter suppression tactics, rejected the myth of widespread voter fraud and argued for sensible voting reforms.

 

Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Josh Adams and Walt Hickey of Insider, New York, N.Y. Illustrated Reporting and Commentary
For using graphic reportage and the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public.

 

Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times Breaking News Photography
For raw and urgent images of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country. (Moved from Feature Photography by the jury.)

Win McNamee, Drew Angerer, Spencer Platt, Samuel Corum and Jon Cherry of Getty Images
For comprehensive and consistently riveting photos of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

 

 

 

 

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2021 Pulitzer Prize – Journalism

 

The 2021 winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Journalism were announced on June 11, 2021. Congratulations to all the amazing writers and staffs!

Descriptions of the individual awards are credited to the Pulitzer Prize website. Links (in brown) will take you to more information about the winners.

 

Public Service winner and the recipient of the Gold Medal in Journalism:
The New York Times For courageous, prescient and sweeping coverage of the coronavirus pandemic that exposed racial and economic inequities, government failures in the U.S. and beyond, and filled a data vacuum that helped local governments, healthcare providers, businesses and individuals to be better prepared and protected.

 

Breaking News Reporting: Staff of the Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn.
For its urgent, authoritative and nuanced coverage of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis and of the reverberations that followed.

 

Investigative Reporting: Matt Rocheleau, Vernal Coleman, Laura Crimaldi, Evan Allen and Brendan McCarthy of The Boston Globe For reporting that uncovered a systematic failure by state governments to share information about dangerous truck drivers that could have kept them off the road, prompting immediate reforms.


Explanatory Reporting:
Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jaimi Dowdell and Jackie Botts of Reuters
For an exhaustive examination, powered by a pioneering data analysis of U.S. federal court cases, of the obscure legal doctrine of “qualified immunity” and how it shields police who use excessive force from prosecution.

&
Ed Yong of The Atlantic
For a series of lucid, definitive pieces on the COVID-19 pandemic that anticipated the course of the disease, synthesized the complex challenges the country faced, illuminated the U.S. government’s failures and provided clear and accessible context for the scientific and human challenges it posed.

 

Local Reporting: Kathleen McGrory and Neil Bedi of the Tampa Bay Times For resourceful, creative reporting that exposed how a powerful and politically connected sheriff built a secretive intelligence operation that harassed residents and used grades and child welfare records to profile schoolchildren.

 

National Reporting: Staffs of The Marshall Project; AL.com, Birmingham; IndyStar, Indianapolis; and the Invisible Institute, Chicago For a year-long investigation of K-9 units and the damage that police dogs inflict on Americans, including innocent citizens and police officers, prompting numerous statewide reforms.

 

International Reporting: Megha Rajagopalan, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek of BuzzFeed News For a series of clear and compelling stories that used satellite imagery and architectural expertise, as well as interviews with two dozen former prisoners, to identify a vast new infrastructure built by the Chinese government for the mass detention of Muslims.

 

Feature Writing:
Mitchell S. Jackson, freelance contributor, Runner’s World
For a deeply affecting account of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery that combined vivid writing, thorough reporting and personal experience to shed light on systemic racism in America.

&

Nadja Drost, freelance contributor, The California Sunday Magazine For a brave and gripping account of global migration that documents a group’s journey on foot through the Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous migrant routes in the world.


Commentary: Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch
For penetrating and historically insightful columns that guided Richmond, a former capital of the Confederacy, through the painful and complicated process of dismantling the city’s monuments to white supremacy.

 

Criticism: Wesley Morris of The New York Times For unrelentingly relevant and deeply engaged criticism on the intersection of race and culture in America, written in a singular style, alternately playful and profound.

 

Editorial Writing: Robert Greene of the Los Angeles Times For editorials on policing, bail reform, prisons and mental health that clearly and holistically examined the Los Angeles criminal justice system.

 

Breaking News Photography: Photography Staff of Associated Press For a collection of photographs from multiple U.S. cities that cohesively captures the country’s response to the death of George Floyd.

 

Feature Photography: Emilio Morenatti of Associated Press For a poignant series of photographs that takes viewers into the lives of the elderly in Spain struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Audio Reporting: Lisa Hagen, Chris Haxel, Graham Smith and Robert Little of National Public Radio For an investigative series on “no compromise” gun rights activists that illuminated the profound differences and deepening schism between American conservatives.

 

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2020 Pulitzer Prize – Journalism

 

The 2020 winners of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Journalism were announced in early May, 2020. Congratulations to all the amazing writers and staffs!

Descriptions of the individual awards are credited to the Pulitzer Prize website. Links (in brown) will take you to more information about the winners.

The Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category.


Public Service  
Anchorage Daily News with contributions from ProPublica
  For a riveting series that revealed a third of Alaska’s villages had no police protection, took authorities to task for decades of neglect, and spurred an influx of money and legislative changes.

 

Breaking News Reporting    Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.  For its rapid coverage of hundreds of last-minute pardons by Kentucky’s governor, showing how the process was marked by opacity, racial disparities and violations of legal norms.

 

Investigative Reporting   Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times   For an exposé of New York City’s taxi industry that showed how lenders profited from predatory loans that shattered the lives of vulnerable drivers, reporting that ultimately led to state and federal investigations and sweeping reforms.

 

Explanatory Reporting   Staff of The Washington Post   For a groundbreaking series that showed with scientific clarity the dire effects of extreme temperatures on the planet.

 

Local Reporting   Staff of The Baltimore Sun   For illuminating, impactful reporting on a lucrative, undisclosed financial relationship between the city’s mayor and the public hospital system she helped to oversee.

 

National Reporting  T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica   For their investigation into America’s 7th Fleet after a series of deadly naval accidents in the Pacific.

 

Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times   For groundbreaking stories that exposed design flaws in the Boeing 737 MAX that led to two deadly crashes and revealed failures in government oversight.

 

International Reporting   Staff of The New York Times   For a set of enthralling stories, reported at great risk, exposing the predations of Vladimir Putin’s regime.

 

Feature Writing   Ben Taub of The New Yorker   For a devastating account of a man who was kidnapped, tortured and deprived of his liberty for more than a decade at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, blending on-the-ground reporting and lyrical prose to offer a nuanced perspective on America’s wider war on terror. (Moved into contention by the Board.)

 

Commentary   Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times   For a sweeping, provocative and personal essay for the ground-breaking 1619 Project, which seeks to place the enslavement of Africans at the center of America’s story, prompting public conversation about the nation’s founding and evolution.

 

Criticism   Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times   For work demonstrating extraordinary community service by a critic, applying his expertise and enterprise to critique a proposed overhaul of the L.A. County Museum of Art and its effect on the institution’s mission.

 

Editorial Writing   Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald Press   For editorials that exposed how pre-trial inmates died horrific deaths in a small Texas county jail—reflecting a rising trend across the state—and courageously took on the local sheriff and judicial establishment, which tried to cover up these needless tragedies.

 

Editorial Cartooning   Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker  For work that skewers the personalities and policies emanating from the Trump White House. (Moved into contention by the Board.)

 

Breaking News Photography  Photography Staff of Reuters   For wide-ranging and illuminating photographs of Hong Kong as citizens protested infringement of their civil liberties and defended the region’s autonomy by the Chinese government.

 

Feature Photography  Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of Associated Press  For striking images captured during a communications blackout in Kashmir depicting life in the contested territory as India stripped it of its semi-autonomy.

 

Audio Reporting Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News   For “The Out Crowd,” revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.

 

For information about Prize winners in other categories (the arts and fiction) click on the link below.

https://www.pulitzer.org/news/announcement-2020-pulitzer-prize-winners

 

 

 

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2019 Pulitzer Prize – Journalism

 

 

 

The Pulitzer Prize is one of the most coveted by people in the business of gathering and reporting the news. From the Pulitzer site: “Entries must come from a U.S. newspaper, magazine or news site that publishes regularly. In all cases, entries must adhere to the highest journalistic principles. Broadcast media and their websites are ineligible in all categories. Entries that involve collaboration between an eligible organization and ineligible media will be considered if the eligible organization does the preponderance of the work and publishes it at least simultaneously with the ineligible partner.”


Sooooo…does everybody that wins get the actual medal to take home? Also from the site: “The iconic Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category. It is never awarded to an individual. However, through the years, the Medal has come to symbolize the entire Pulitzer program.”

 

Public Service   South Florida Sun Sentinel
For exposing failings by school and law enforcement officials before and after the deadly shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

 

Breaking News Reporting  Staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For immersive, compassionate coverage of the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue that captured the anguish and resilience of a community thrust into grief.

 

Investigative Reporting Matt Hamilton, Harriet Ryan, Paul Pringle of the Los Angeles Times
For consequential reporting on a University of Southern California gynecologist accused of violating hundreds of young women for more than a quarter-century.


Explanatory Reporting David Barstow, Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner of The New York Times

For an exhaustive 18-month investigation of President Donald Trump’s finances that debunked his claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges. (Moved by the Board from the Investigative Reporting category, where it was also entered.)

 

Local Reporting Staff of The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

For a damning portrayal of the state’s discriminatory conviction system, including a Jim Crow-era law, that enabled Louisiana courts to send defendants to jail without jury consensus on the accused’s guilt.

 

National Reporting Staff of The Wall Street Journal

For uncovering President Trump’s secret payoffs to two women during his campaign who

claimed to have had affairs with him, and the web of supporters who facilitated the transactions, triggering criminal inquiries and calls for impeachment.

 

International Reporting Maggie Michael, Maad al-Zikry, Nariman El-Mofty of Associated Press

For a revelatory yearlong series detailing the atrocities of the war in Yemen, including theft of food aid, deployment of child soldiers and torture of prisoners.

 

Staff of Reuters, with notable contributions from Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo

For expertly exposing the military units and Buddhist villagers responsible for the systematic expulsion and murder of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, courageous coverage that landed its reporters in prison.

 

Feature Writing Hannah Dreier of ProPublica

For a series of powerful, intimate narratives that followed Salvadoran immigrants on New York’s Long Island whose lives were shattered by a botched federal crackdown on the international criminal gang MS-13.

 

Commentary Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

For bold columns that exposed the malfeasance and injustice of forcing poor rural Missourians charged with misdemeanor crimes to pay unaffordable fines or be sent to jail.

 

Criticism Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post

For trenchant and searching reviews and essays that joined warm emotion and careful analysis in examining a broad range of books addressing government and the American experience.

 

Editorial Writing Brent Staples of The New York Times

For editorials written with extraordinary moral clarity that charted the racial fault lines in the United States at a polarizing moment in the nation’s history.

 

Editorial Cartooning Darrin Bell, freelancer

For beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration.

 

Breaking News Photography Photography Staff of Reuters

For a vivid and startling visual narrative of the urgency, desperation and sadness of migrants as they journeyed to the U.S. from Central and South America.

 

Feature Photography Lorenzo Tugnoli of The Washington Post

For brilliant photo storytelling of the tragic famine in Yemen, shown through images in which beauty and composure are intertwined with devastation.

 

Check out the Pulitzer site for winners in other categories (Fiction, the Arts, etc.) https://www.pulitzer.org/news/announcement-2019-pulitzer-prize-winners  
 

 

 

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