PULITZER PRIZE

The Pulitzer Prize is a prestigious award honouring excellence in journalism, literature, and musical composition. Established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher, the prize was first awarded in 1917. Pulitzer will allocate funds to Columbia University to establish the award, which is administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism.

The Pulitzer Prize recognizes outstanding work in various categories, including:

1. The journalism category includes awards for Public Service, Breaking News Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Explanatory Reporting, Local Reporting, National Reporting, International Reporting, Feature Writing, Commentary, Criticism, Editorial Writing, Editorial Cartooning, and Breaking News Photography, among others.
2. Letters, Drama, and Music category includes awards for Fiction, Drama, History, Biography or Autobiography, Poetry, General Nonfiction, and Music.

The winners of the Pulitzer Prize are selected by juries composed of journalists, writers, and scholars, and the awards are announced annually in April. Winning a Pulitzer Prize is considered one of the highest honours in journalism, literature, and the arts, and it often leads to increased recognition and prestige for the recipients.

3. Who are the Indians who have won the Pulitzer?

Some prominent Indian and Indian-American winners of the Pulitzer Prize

• Gobind Behari Lal (1937) Journalist, part of the winning team for reporting in the category of science.
• Jhumpa Lahiri (2000) The author, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her debut short story collection "Interpreter of Maladies."
• Geeta Anand (2003) Mumbai-born journalist, was part of the Wall Street Journal team that won for reporting on corporate corruption.
• Siddhartha Mukherjee (2011) Indian-American physician and author, won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for his book "The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer."
• Vijay Seshadri (2014) Indian-American poet, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his collection "3 Sections."
• Megha Rajagopalan (2021) Indian-American journalist, part of a BuzzFeed News team that won the Pulitzer Prize for International Investigative Reporting for exposing China's mass detention camps for Uyghur Muslims.
• Danish Siddiqui (2018 & 2022) Photojournalist (awarded posthumously in 2022). He won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2018 with Reuters and again in 2022 (shared with his colleagues) for their coverage of the COVID-19 crisis in India.
• Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin (2020) Associated Press photographers, all Indian citizens, won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for their work capturing the challenges faced by Kashmiris during a communications blackout.

4. About Joseph Pulitzer

• Joseph Pulitzer was a Hungarian-born American newspaper publisher, journalist, and philanthropist, best known for establishing the Pulitzer Prizes through his will. He was born on April 10, 1847, in Mako, Hungary (then part of the Austrian Empire), and immigrated to the United States in 1864 at the age of 17.
• Pulitzer started his career as a journalist, working for various newspapers before purchasing the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1878. Under his leadership, the newspaper became known for its investigative reporting and advocacy for social reform.
• In 1883, Pulitzer purchased the New York World, which he transformed into one of the most influential newspapers of its time. He introduced sensationalist reporting techniques, including headlines, illustrations, and exposés, to attract readership and increase circulation.
• Throughout his career, Pulitzer was a staunch advocate for journalistic integrity and independence, using his newspapers to expose corruption and champion the interests of the common people.
• In his will, Pulitzer bequeathed funds to Columbia University to establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917. The prizes were intended to honour excellence in journalism, literature, and musical composition, reflecting Pulitzer's belief in the importance of fostering quality and integrity in these fields.
• Joseph Pulitzer passed away on October 29, 1911, leaving behind a lasting legacy as a pioneering journalist, publisher, and benefactor of the arts and journalism.

5. The changes that have been made to the awards

The Pulitzer Prizes have undergone several changes and adaptations since their inception in 1917.

Some notable changes include

• Over the years, new categories have been added to reflect changes in journalism and the arts. For example, the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography was established in 2000 to recognize excellence in visual journalism in the context of breaking news events.
• With the rise of digital media, the Pulitzer Prize Board expanded its eligibility criteria to include online journalism. This change allowed online news organizations and digital journalists to be considered for Pulitzer Prizes alongside traditional print and broadcast media outlets.
• The Pulitzer Prize Board periodically reviews and revises the criteria for each category to ensure they remain relevant and reflective of excellence in journalism, literature, and music. These revisions may include clarifications of eligibility requirements, updates to submission guidelines, and adjustments to evaluation criteria.
• Efforts have been made to promote diversity and inclusion among Pulitzer Prize winners, both in terms of the content and perspectives represented in awarded works and the demographics of the winners themselves. This includes initiatives to encourage submissions from underrepresented communities and to recognize a broader range of voices and experiences.
• In recent years, the Pulitzer Prize Board has sought to expand recognition beyond traditional forms of journalism and literature to encompass emerging forms of storytelling and creative expression. This has led to the recognition of multimedia projects, graphic novels, and other innovative works in addition to traditional print and broadcast journalism and literature.