Pulitzer Prize facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pulitzer Prize
Obverse and reverse sides of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service gold medal, designed by Daniel Chester French in 1917
Presented by	Columbia University
Country	United States
First awarded	1917; 108 years ago (1917)

The Pulitzer Prize is a famous award given out by Columbia University in the United States. It celebrates amazing work in newspaper, magazine, and online journalism, as well as great achievements in literature (books and writing) and musical composition (creating music).

This special award was started in 1917. It was created because of the will of Joseph Pulitzer, a very successful newspaper owner who wanted to support journalism and the arts. Each year, as of 2023, prizes are given in 23 different areas. Most winners receive a certificate and US$15,000. However, the winner in the public service category gets a special gold medal.

History of the Pulitzer Prize

The 1924 Pulitzer Prize certificate given to Mihajlo Pupin for his autobiography.

Joseph Pulitzer, a well-known newspaper publisher, left money in his will to Columbia University. He wanted them to start a journalism school and create the Pulitzer Prizes. He set aside $250,000 for the awards and scholarships. He specifically asked for "four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one in education, and four traveling scholarships."

Joseph Pulitzer passed away on October 29, 1911. The very first Pulitzer Prizes were given out on June 4, 1917. Today, the winners are usually announced in May. For a while, the Chicago Tribune newspaper, led by Colonel Robert R. McCormick, did not think the Pulitzer Prize was important. They refused to compete for the award until 1961.

How Winners Are Chosen

Columbia President Lee Bollinger gives the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Jeffrey Eugenides.

Not all great works are automatically considered for a Pulitzer Prize. Only those that are specifically entered can be judged. Each entry needs a $75 fee. The work must fit into one of the specific prize categories. It cannot just be a good book or song; it has to match a category. Also, a work can only be entered in a maximum of two categories.

For the Books, Drama, and Music categories, only citizens of the United States can enter. The only exception is the History category, which is open to anyone, but the book must be about United States history. For Journalism categories, people from any country can enter, as long as their work was published in a United States newspaper, magazine, or news website.

Every year, more than 100 judges are chosen by the Pulitzer Prize Board. They work on 22 different juries for the 23 award categories. One jury handles both photography awards. Most juries have five members. However, some categories like Public Service and Investigative Reporting have seven members. All book juries have five members.

For each award, a jury picks three finalists. The main board then chooses the winner from these finalists by a majority vote. Sometimes, the board can choose a different entry if 75 percent of them agree. The board can also decide not to give an award in a category. The board members and journalism judges are not paid. However, judges for books, music, and drama receive a small payment for their work.

Entrants vs. Nominated Finalists

If someone's work is sent in for consideration, they are called an entrant. The jury then selects a smaller group called nominated finalists. These finalists are announced along with the winner for each category.

It's important to know the difference. Some journalists or authors who were only submitted (but not chosen as finalists) might still say they were "Pulitzer nominees" in their advertising. The Pulitzer board has warned people not to do this.

The Pulitzer Prize website explains it clearly: "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."

Bill Dedman of NBC News, who won the 1989 investigative reporting prize, explained it this way in 2012: If a movie studio sends a film to the Academy Awards, it doesn't mean the film is "Oscar-nominated." It's just an entry. The same applies to the Pulitzers. Just sending in your work doesn't make you a nominee.

The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service is usually given to news organizations, not individuals. But sometimes, people who contributed a lot to that winning entry are mentioned. Journalism awards can go to individuals, newspapers, or newspaper teams.

Pulitzer Prize Categories

Awards are given in categories for journalism, arts, and literature. News reports and photos from U.S.-based newspapers, magazines, and news organizations (including news websites) that publish regularly can win journalism prizes.

Since 2007, online content has been allowed in most journalism categories. The only exceptions were the two photography categories, which only allowed still images. In December 2008, it was announced that content published only on online news sources would be considered for the first time.

For a long time, magazines were not allowed to enter the Pulitzer competition. This led to the creation of the National Magazine Awards in 1966. In 2015, magazines were finally allowed to enter two categories: Investigative Reporting and Feature Writing. By 2016, this expanded to three more categories. That year, Kathryn Schulz and Emily Nussbaum from The New Yorker became the first magazine writers to win under the new rules. In October 2016, magazines became eligible for all journalism categories.

Here are some of the main Pulitzer Prize categories:

Journalism Awards

• Public Service – This is for excellent public service by a newspaper, magazine, or news site. It uses all their journalistic tools like stories, photos, and videos. This is often seen as the top prize and is the only one awarded with a gold medal. It is given to the news organization, not an individual.
• Breaking News Reporting – For great reporting on breaking news events, whether local, state, or national. It focuses on quickly and accurately capturing events as they happen, and then providing more details and context over time.
• Investigative Reporting – For excellent investigative reporting, which means digging deep to uncover important information.
• Explanatory Reporting – For clearly explaining a big and complicated topic. This shows a deep understanding of the subject and clear writing.
• Local Reporting – For great reporting on important local issues, showing original work and knowledge of the community.
• National Reporting – For excellent reporting on topics that affect the whole country.
• International Reporting – For outstanding reporting on world affairs.
• Feature Writing – For excellent feature stories, focusing on high-quality writing, originality, and being clear and to the point.
• Commentary – For outstanding opinion pieces or analysis.
• Criticism – For excellent criticism of arts, books, or other topics.
• Editorial Writing – For great editorial writing, which means opinion pieces written by the newspaper's staff. The best editorials are clear, have a strong moral purpose, use good reasoning, and can influence public opinion.
• Editorial Cartooning – For an outstanding cartoon or collection of cartoons. These cartoons should be original, effective in their message, and well-drawn.
• Breaking News Photography – For excellent photos of breaking news events, in black and white or color.
• Feature Photography – For outstanding feature photos, in black and white or color.

Arts and Letters Awards

There are seven categories for books and plays:

• Biography – For an excellent biography (a story of someone else's life), autobiography (a story of the author's own life), or memoir (a part of the author's life story) by an American author.
• Drama – For an outstanding play by an American playwright. It should preferably be original and about American life.
• Fiction – For excellent fiction (made-up stories) by an American author. It should preferably deal with American life.
• General Nonfiction – For a distinguished and well-researched non-fiction book by an American author that doesn't fit into another category.
• History – For an outstanding and well-researched book on the history of the United States.
• Memoir or Autobiography – For a distinguished and factual memoir or autobiography by an American author.
• Poetry – For an outstanding book of original poems by an American poet.

In 2020, the Audio Reporting category was added for podcasts and radio programs. The first prize in this category went to "The Out Crowd," an episode of This American Life.

Music Award

There is one prize for music:

• Pulitzer Prize for Music – For an outstanding musical composition by an American composer. The piece must have been performed or recorded for the first time in the United States during the award year.

There have also been many Special Citations and Awards given for unique achievements. These are given in addition to the regular prizes.

Besides the main prizes, Pulitzer Traveling Fellowships are given to four excellent students from the Graduate School of Journalism.

Changes to Categories Over Time

Over the years, some award categories have changed or been stopped. This happens when the field expands, the name needs updating, or the award becomes outdated. For example, the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel (given from 1918–1947) was changed to the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. This new category includes not just novels, but also short stories and other types of fiction.

Chronology of Pulitzer Prize categories

Legend       Awarded, current category       Awarded, category renamed and is current category       Awarded, category no longer exists       Nominees selected but category was not awarded Note: The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting was split into two categories in 1948 that still exist as Breaking News Reporting and Investigative Reporting. The Local Reporting category was revived in 2007 as a new category to replace the Beat Reporting category.

The Pulitzer Prize Board

Pulitzer Hall at Columbia University, where the board meets.

The Pulitzer Prize Board has nineteen members. They meet twice a year, usually in the Joseph Pulitzer World Room at Columbia University's Pulitzer Hall. The board includes important editors, writers, and media leaders. It also has six members from universities and the arts, including the president of Columbia University and the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. The person who manages the prizes, called the administrator, also serves as the board's secretary.

The administrator and the dean can join in discussions but cannot vote. The president and dean are permanent members. Other board members are elected for a three-year term and can serve up to three terms. When choosing members, the board looks for professional excellence, and also for diversity in gender, background, location, and the size of their news organization.

Marjorie Miller, a former editor for the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times, became the administrator in April 2022. She followed Dana Canedy, who was the first woman and first person of color to hold the position.

Since 1975, the board has made all the prize decisions. Before that, the decisions had to be approved by the trustees of Columbia University. Even though the prize office is at Columbia University, the board and its administration have been separate from the Journalism School since 1950.

Images for kids

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  Obverse and reverse sides of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service gold medal, designed by Daniel Chester French in 1917

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  The 1924 Pulitzer Prize for autobiography certificate issued to Mihajlo Pupin; the certificate is modeled on Columbia University's diploma.

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  Columbia President Lee Bollinger presents the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Jeffrey Eugenides

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  Pulitzer Hall on the Columbia campus

See also

In Spanish: Premio Pulitzer para niños

• Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award for broadcast journalism
• Commonwealth Writers Prize
• List of Pulitzer Prizes awarded to The New York Times
• List of prizes known as the Nobel or the highest honors of a field
• The Booker Prize
• Miguel de Cervantes Prize
• National Book Award
• National Magazine Awards
• Prix Goncourt