Pulitzer Prize Explained

Pulitzer Prize
Current Awards:2024 Pulitzer Prize
Awarded For:Excellence in newspaper journalism, literary achievements, musical composition
Presenter:Columbia University
Country:United States

The Pulitzer Prizes[1] ([2]) are two dozen annual awards given by Columbia University in New York for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters." They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher.

Prizes in 2024 were awarded in these categories, with three finalists named for each:[3]

Each winner receives a certificate and $15,000 in cash,[4] except in the Public Service category, where a gold medal is awarded.[5] [6]

History

Newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer gave money in his will to Columbia University to launch a journalism school and establish the Pulitzer Prize. It allocated $250,000 to the prize and scholarships.[7] He specified "four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one in education, and four traveling scholarships."[8]

After his death on October 29, 1911, the first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded June 4, 1917; they are now announced in May. The Chicago Tribune under the control of Colonel Robert R. McCormick felt that the Pulitzer Prize was nothing more than a 'mutual admiration society' and not to be taken seriously; the paper refused to compete for the prize during McCormick's tenure up until 1961.[9] [10]

Entry and prize consideration

The Pulitzer Prize does not automatically consider all applicable works in the media, but only those that have specifically been entered. Entries must fit in at least one of the specific prize categories, and cannot simply gain entrance for being literary or musical. Works can also be entered only in a maximum of two categories, regardless of their properties.[11] Only United States citizens are eligible to enter the Books, Drama, and Music categories, with the exception of the History category, which has no nationality restrictions but is restricted to books that cover United States history. Entrants to the Journalism categories are not restricted by nationality, provided their submitted work appeared in a United States publication.

Each year, more than 100 jurors are selected by the Pulitzer Prize Board to serve on 22 separate juries for the 23 award categories; one jury makes recommendations for both photography awards. Most juries consist of five members, except for those for Public Service, Investigative Reporting, Explanatory Reporting, Feature Writing, Commentary and Audio Reporting categories, which have seven members; however, all book juries have five members.[8] For each award category, a jury makes three nominations. The board selects the winner by majority vote from the nominations, or bypasses the nominations and selects a different entry following a 75 percent majority vote. The board can also vote to issue no award. The board and journalism jurors are not paid for their work; however, the jurors in letters, music, and drama receive honoraria for the year.[8]

Difference between entrants and nominated finalists

Anyone whose work has been submitted is called an entrant. The jury selects a group of nominated finalists and announces them, together with the winner for each category. However, some journalists and authors who were only submitted, but not nominated as finalists, still claim to be Pulitzer nominees in promotional material.

The Pulitzer board has cautioned entrants against claiming to be nominees. The Pulitzer Prize website's Frequently Asked Questions section describes their policy as follows: "Nominated Finalists are selected by the Nominating Juries for each category as finalists in the competition. The Pulitzer Prize Board generally selects the Pulitzer Prize Winners from the three nominated finalists in each category. The names of nominated finalists have been announced only since 1980. Work that has been submitted for Prize consideration but not chosen as either a nominated finalist or a winner is termed an entry or submission. No information on entrants is provided. Since 1980, when we began to announce nominated finalists, we have used the term 'nominee' for entrants who became finalists. We discourage someone saying he or she was 'nominated' for a Pulitzer simply because an entry was sent to us."[12]

Bill Dedman of NBC News, the recipient of the 1989 investigative reporting prize, pointed out in 2012 that financial journalist Betty Liu was described as "Pulitzer Prize–Nominated" in her Bloomberg Television advertising and the jacket of her book, while National Review writer Jonah Goldberg made similar claims of "Pulitzer nomination" to promote his books. Dedman wrote, "To call that submission a Pulitzer 'nomination' is like saying that Adam Sandler is an Oscar nominee if Columbia Pictures enters That's My Boy in the Academy Awards. Many readers realize that the Oscars don't work that way—the studios don't pick the nominees. It's just a way of slipping 'Academy Awards' into a bio. The Pulitzers also don't work that way, but fewer people know that."[13]

Nominally, the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is awarded only to news organizations, not individuals. In rare instances, contributors to the entry are singled out in the citation in a manner analogous to individual winners.[14] [15] Journalism awards may be awarded to individuals or newspapers or newspaper staffs; infrequently, staff Prize citations also distinguish the work of prominent contributors.[16]

Recipients

See main article: category.

See main article: List of multiple Pulitzer Prize winners.

Categories

Awards are made in categories relating to journalism, arts, letters and fiction. Reports and photographs by United States–based newspapers, magazines and news organizations (including news websites) that "[publish] regularly"[17] are eligible for the journalism prize. Beginning in 2007, "an assortment of online elements will be permitted in all journalism categories except for the competition's two photography categories, which will continue to restrict entries to still images."[18] In December 2008, it was announced that for the first time content published in online-only news sources would be considered.[19]

Although certain winners with magazine affiliations (most notably Moneta Sleet Jr.) were allowed to enter the competition due to eligible partnerships or concurrent publication of their work in newspapers, the Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board and the Pulitzer Prize Board historically resisted the admission of magazines into the competition, resulting in the formation of the National Magazine Awards at the Columbia Journalism School in 1966.

In 2015, magazines were allowed to enter for the first time in two categories (Investigative Reporting and Feature Writing). By 2016, this provision had expanded to three additional categories (International Reporting, Criticism and Editorial Cartooning).[20] That year, Kathryn Schulz (Feature Writing) and Emily Nussbaum (Criticism) of The New Yorker became the first magazine affiliates to receive the prize under the expanded eligibility criterion.[21]

In October 2016, magazine eligibility was extended to all journalism categories.[22] Hitherto confined to the local reporting of breaking news, the Breaking News Reporting category was expanded to encompass all domestic breaking news events in 2017.[23]

Definitions of Pulitzer Prize categories as presented in the December 2017 Plan of Award:[24]

There are seven categories in letters and drama:

In 2020, the Audio Reporting category was added. The first prize in this category was awarded to "The Out Crowd", an episode of the public radio program This American Life. In the second year, the Pulitzer was awarded for the NPR podcast No Compromise.[25]

There is one prize given for music:

There have been dozens of Special Citations and Awards: more than ten each in Arts, Journalism, and Letters, and five for Pulitzer Prize service, most recently to Joseph Pulitzer, Jr. in 1987.

In addition to the prizes, Pulitzer Travelling Fellowships are awarded to four outstanding students of the Graduate School of Journalism as selected by the faculty.

Changes to categories

Over the years, awards have been discontinued either because the field of the award has been expanded to encompass other areas; the award has been renamed because the common terminology changed; or the award has become obsolete, such as the prizes for telegraphic reporting.

An example of a writing field that has been expanded was the former Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (awarded 1918–1947), which has been changed to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which also includes short stories, novellas, novelettes, and poetry, as well as novels.

Board

The nineteen-member Pulitzer Prize Board[26] convenes semi-annually, traditionally in the Joseph Pulitzer World Room at Columbia University's Pulitzer Hall. It comprises major editors, columnists and media executives in addition to six members drawn from academia and the arts, including the president of Columbia University, the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the administrator of the prizes, who serves as the board's secretary. The administrator and the dean (who served on the board from its inception until 1954 and beginning again in 1976) participate in the deliberations as ex officio members, but cannot vote. Aside from the president and dean (who serve as permanent members for the duration of their respective appointments) and the administrator (who is re-elected annually), the board elects its own members for a three-year term; members may serve a maximum of three terms. Members of the board and the juries are selected with close attention "given to professional excellence and affiliation, as well as diversity in terms of gender, ethnic background, geographical distribution and size of news organization."

Former Associated Press and Los Angeles Times editor Marjorie Miller was named administrator in April 2022.[27] She succeeded former New York Times senior editor Dana Canedy, who served in the role from 2017 to 2020. Canedy was the first woman and first person of color to hold the position.[28] [29] Edward Kliment, the program's longtime deputy administrator, was appointed acting administrator in July 2020 when Canedy became senior vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship eponymous imprint.[30] He chose not to contend for the position and returned to his previous role upon Miller's appointment.[27]

In addition to Canedy, past administrators include John Hohenberg (the youngest person to hold the position to date; 1954–1976), fellow Graduate School of Journalism professor Richard T. Baker (1976–1981), former Newsweek executive editor Robert Christopher (1981–1992), former New York Times managing editor Seymour Topping (1993–2002), former Milwaukee Journal editor Sig Gissler (2002–2014) and former Concord Monitor editor Mike Pride (the only former board member to hold the position to date; 2014–2017). Prior to the installation of Hohenberg, the program was jointly administered by members of the Journalism School's faculty (most notably longtime dean Carl W. Ackerman) and officials in Columbia's central administration under the aegis of Frank D. Fackenthal.

Following the retirement of Joseph Pulitzer Jr. (a grandson of the endower who served as permanent chair of the board for 31 years) in 1986, the chair has typically rotated to the most senior member (or members, in the case of concurrent elections) on an annual basis.[31]

Since 1975, the board has made all prize decisions; prior to this point, the board's recommendations were ratified by a majority vote of the trustees of Columbia University.[32] Although the administrator's office and staff are housed alongside the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia's Pulitzer Hall and several administrators have held concurrent full-time or adjunct faculty appointments at the Journalism School, the board and administration have been operationally separate from the school since 1950.[33]

Controversies

Criticism and studies

Some critics of the Pulitzer Prize have accused the organization of favoring those who support liberal causes or oppose conservative causes. Conservative columnist L. Brent Bozell Jr. said that the Pulitzer Prize has a "liberal legacy", particularly in its prize for commentary.[63] He pointed to a 31-year period in which only five conservatives won prizes for commentary. 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary Kathleen Parker wrote, "It's only because I'm a conservative basher that I'm now recognized."[64] Alexander Theroux describes the Pulitzer Prize as "an eminently silly award, [that] has often been handed out as a result of pull and political log-rolling, and that to some of the biggest frauds and fools alike."[65]

A 2012 academic study by journalism professors Yong Volz of the University of Missouri and Francis Lee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong found "that only 27% of Pulitzer winners since 1991 were females, while newsrooms are about 33% female."[66] The researchers concluded female winners were more likely to have traditional academic experience, such as attendance at Ivy League schools, metropolitan upbringing, or employment with an elite publication such as The New York Times. The findings suggest a higher level of training and connectedness is required for a female applicant to be awarded the prize than male counterparts.[67]

References

General sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Pulitzer Prizes .
  2. Web site: FAQ. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. 24. How is 'Pulitzer' pronounced? The correct pronunciation is 'PULL it sir.'. April 15, 2019.
    The pronunciation, even if considered mistaken, is quite common, and included in the major British and American dictionaries.
  3. Web site: Pulitzer Prize Board Announces New Book Category . Pulitzer.
  4. Web site: Pulitzer Board raises prize award to $15,000. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. January 13, 2017. January 3, 2017.
  5. Web site: Topping. Seymour. Seymour Topping. 2008. Administration. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. January 31, 2013. Updated 2013 by Sig Gissler.
  6. Web site: The Medal. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. January 31, 2013.
  7. Book: Morris, James McGrath. Pulitzer: A Life in Politics, Print, and Power. Sep 12, 2011. 2010. HarperCollins. New York, NY. 978-0-06-079870-3. 461.
  8. Web site: Topping. Seymour. History of The Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. September 13, 2011. Seymour Topping. 2008. Updated 2013 by Sig Gissler.
  9. News: A Parade of Pulitzers. Patrick T.. Reardon. June 8, 1997. April 27, 2013. Chicago Tribune. for more than two decades [...] the Tribune refused to compete for the awards..
  10. Web site: The Colonel and the Lady. Joseph. Epstein. Joseph Epstein (writer). August 1997. Commentary. 48. He viewed the Pulitzer Prize as a 'mutual admiration society,' and hence not to be taken seriously.. April 27, 2013. June 6, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130606094757/http://shmacek.faculty.noctrl.edu/Courses/ChicagoMedia/McCormick%20and%20Graham.pdf. dead.
  11. Web site: Entry Form for a Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University.
  12. Web site: Frequently Asked Questions. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. May 7, 2019. November 18, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181118035305/https://www.pulitzer.org/page/frequently-asked-questions. live.
  13. News: Journalists, Please Stop Saying You Were 'Pulitzer Prize-Nominated'. What Matters Now. The Atlantic Wire. Alexander. Abad-Santos. June 26, 2012. news.yahoo.
  14. Web site: The 2000 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Public Service: The Washington Post, notably for the work of Katherine Boo. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  15. Web site: The 1996 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Public Service: The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), for the work of Melanie Sill, Pat Stith and Joby Warrick. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  16. Web site: The 2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Local Reporting: Detroit Free Press Staff, and notably Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  17. Web site: 2017 Journalism Submission Guidelines, Requirements and FAQs. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  18. Pulitzer Board Widens Range of Online Journalism in Entries. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. November 27, 2006. April 12, 2010.
  19. Pulitzer Prizes Broadened to Include Online-Only Publications Primarily Devoted to Original News Reporting. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. December 8, 2008. April 12, 2010.
  20. October 26, 2015. Expanded eligibility for three journalism categories. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  21. Web site: 2016 Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  22. October 18, 2016. Pulitzer Prizes open all journalism categories to magazines. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  23. Web site: Pulitzer Board Expands Eligibility in Breaking News Prize Category. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. December 4, 2017. April 17, 2018.
  24. Web site: 2020 Plan of Award. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. August 2020. April 17, 2018.
  25. Audio Reporting: Winners 2020–2022, The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved March 6, 2023.https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/631
  26. May 30, 2016. Elizabeth Alexander elected to Pulitzer Prize Board. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. March 4, 2017.
  27. Journalist Marjorie Miller is Elected Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes . The Pulitzer Prizes . March 31, 2022 . April 22, 2022.
  28. Journalist, Author Dana Canedy Is Elected Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. July 12, 2017. April 17, 2018.
  29. Web site: The 2001 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. April 17, 2018.
  30. Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy Steps Down To Accept Publisher Role at Simon & Schuster. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. July 6, 2020. New York. July 12, 2020.
  31. Web site: Biography of Joseph Pulitzer. Seymour. Topping. Seymour Topping. The Pulitzer Prizes. Columbia University. May 16, 2017. Updated 2013 by Sig Gissler.
  32. News: Kihss . Peter . 1975-05-06 . Pulitzer Prizes Awarded 2 Biographers and Albee . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-09-14 . 0362-4331.
  33. Book: Boylan, James. 2003. Pulitzer's School: Columbia University's School of Journalism, 1903–2003. 704692556. Columbia University Press. New York. 978-0-231-50017-3. Google Books. March 4, 2017.
  34. Oehlschlaeger . Fritz H. . November 1979 . 10.2307/2925396 . 3 . American Literature . 2925396 . 409–414 . Hamlin Garland and the Pulitzer Prize controversy of 1921 . 51.
  35. Book: Walls . Jeannette . Dish: The Inside Story on the World of Gossip . 2000. Avon Books, Inc., an Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers . New York . 0-380-97821-0 . 29–35 .
  36. Web site: Drew Pearson. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, School of Information, University of Texas. December 28, 2014. February 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180212161318/http://solstice.ischool.utexas.edu/tmwi/index.php/Drew_Pearson. dead.
  37. Web site: Did John F. Kennedy really write 'Profiles in Courage?'. Adams. Cecil . Cecil Adams . November 7, 2003. The Straight Dope. December 19, 2009.
  38. News: Her Story, Their Words: Behind the Scenes of the Best-Sellers . June 11, 2014 .
  39. News: Who wrote that political memoir? No, who wrote it? . The Washington Post . June 9, 2014 . June 11, 2014 . Farhi, Paul.
  40. [David O. Stewart|Stewart, David O.]
  41. [Nicholas Lemann]
  42. Web site: At 50, a D.C. Novel With Legs . . Scott . Simon . Scott Simon . September 2, 2009 . January 15, 2015.
  43. Web site: Classic Politics: The Works of Allen Drury Now Back in Print . Phil . Simon . Phil Simon . . May 28, 2014 . January 14, 2015.
  44. Book: Heinz Dietrich . Fischer . Erika J. . Fischer . Chronicle of the Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction . Munich . K.G. Saur . 2007 . 21.
  45. News: . Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies . Edwin . McDowell . May 11, 1984 . August 20, 2011.
  46. Hohenberg, John. The Pulitzer Diaries: Inside America's Greatest Prize. 1997. p. 109.
  47. McDowell, Edwin. "Publishing: Pulitzer Controversies". The New York Times, May 11, 1984: C26.
  48. News: Fein. Esther B.. Book Notes. The New York Times. March 3, 1993. February 12, 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070211024838/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00613FC3E580C708CDDAA0894DB494D81. February 11, 2007. mdy-all.
  49. News: Judge Rules "Roots" Original. Spokane Daily Chronicle. September 21, 1978. Associated Press. August 19, 2020. December 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201215043039/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bLIvAAAAIBAJ&pg=4642%2C1207133. live.
  50. News: Suit against Alex Haley is dismissed. The Montreal Gazette. September 22, 1978. United Press International. August 19, 2020. December 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201215043048/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3U8xAAAAIBAJ&pg=953%2C2772990. live.
  51. Complete Historical Handbook of the Pulitzer Prize System 1917–2000: Decision-Making Processes in all Award Categories Based on Unpublished Sources, by Heinz D. Fischer and Erika J. Fischer, The Pulitzer Prize Archive, Walter de Gruyer, 2003, p. 325
  52. "Pulitzer Decision Angers Juror Ignoring Nominations, Panel Didn't Know History Prize", San Jose Mercury News, April 23, 1994, p. 2B
  53. Web site: Next to Normal. September 16, 2015. Music Theater International. May 12, 2019.
  54. News: Critic's Notebook: On this year's drama award, the Pulitzer board blew it. Los Angeles Times. April 13, 2010. Charles McNulty. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100415050116/http://theenvelope.latimes.com/la-et-pulitzer-mcnulty-20100413%2C0%2C3224899.story. April 15, 2010. mdy-all.
  55. Web site: Playbill.com's Theatre Week In Review, April 10-April 16: The Pulitzer Paradox. Playbill. April 16, 2010. Robert. Simonson. Robert Simonson. May 16, 2017.
  56. News: 3 Indian photojournalists from Jammu and Kashmir win Pulitzer Prize. Hindustan Times. en. May 6, 2020. Ashiq. Hussain. May 6, 2020.
  57. News: Kashmiri Pulitzer Prize winners caught in political debate. Outlook. May 5, 2020. May 6, 2020. Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).
  58. Web site: Pulitzer Prize questions India's legitimacy over Kashmir. National Herald. May 5, 2020. en. 2020-05-06.
  59. Web site: Pulitzer Board Must Revoke Nikole Hannah-Jones' Prize by Peter Wood . 2023-12-15 . www.nas.org . en.
  60. News: 2019-12-20 . We Respond to the Historians Who Critiqued The 1619 Project . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-12-15 . 0362-4331.
  61. Web site: Harris . Leslie M. . 2020-03-06 . I Helped Fact-Check the 1619 Project. The Times Ignored Me. . 2023-12-15 . POLITICO . en.
  62. News: Russia Slams NYT for 'Russophobia' Following Pulitzer Prize Win. The Moscow Times. May 5, 2020.
  63. News: Pulitzers' liberal legacy. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. April 22, 2007. Brent Bozell. October 14, 2010. dead. https://archive.today/20130131142218/http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/guests/s_503968.html. January 31, 2013.
  64. News: Kathleen Parker: 'Smallish-town girl' hits cable. Politico. October 4, 2010. Keach Hagey. October 14, 2010.
  65. Book: Alexander Theroux. Alexander Theroux. Einstein's Beets. Fantagraphics Books. 328. 2017. 978-1-60699-976-9. September 26, 2020. December 15, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201215043055/https://books.google.com/books?id=-XpSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA328. live.
  66. Who wins the Pulitzer Prize in international reporting? Cumulative advantage and social stratification in journalism. Journalism. Yong Z. Volz. Francis LF Lee. August 30, 2012. 14. 5. 587–605. 10.1177/1464884912455905. 145197126.
  67. Web site: Female Pulitzer Prize winners require higher qualifications, study finds. Phys.org. University of Missouri. October 18, 2012. October 18, 2012.