The Media Today

A Pulitzer preview

April 16, 2018
 

Today is the day. Journalism’s top honors will be announced at Columbia starting at 3pm EST. Now in its 102nd year, the Pulitzer Prizes are the nation’s oldest and most prestigious journalism awards, with a total of 14 categories from feature writing to editorial cartooning to public service (plus another seven categories for art, literature, and music).

Like its red carpet counterparts (think: the Golden Globes and Grammy Awards), the Pulitzer Prizes will likely be all about #MeToo and #TimesUp, with the New York Times and The New Yorker going head-to-head for the public service award for their respective investigations into movie producer Harvey Weinstein’s predatory behavior. The Times’s Jody Kantor and Megan Twohey could be the frontrunners, but The New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow is close behind. Or, like at the Polk Awards in February, the Pulitzer committee could honor both investigations.

ICYMI: Q&A with the man who wrote the first profile of Facebook as a college freshman

Released within days of each other in October, the stories catalyzed a movement. The journalistic trio shifted the global conversation about harassment in the workplace on a global scale and across industries, not just in Hollywood. The impact was far-reaching; the effects still lingering—victims shared (and continue to share) their experiences of sexual assault and harassment.

Their reporting also started a critical conversation within our own industry. The so-called “Weinstein effect” brought to light the abuses of powerful men in journalism from Mark Halperin to Garrison Keillor to Charlie Rose. At CJR, we put together a special report about harassment in newsrooms, turning the #MeToo spotlight on ourselves and providing a place for peers to share their stories.

Other contenders include BuzzFeed’s multi-part series on Russia and either the Times or The Washington Post for all things Trump-Russia in 2017. Below, more from CJR about the Pulitzer Prizes:

  • 100 years of data: In 2016, CJR found that women and people of color are being shut out of American journalism’s most prestigious award after analyzing winners over the past century.
  • New leadership: Last summer, I interviewed new Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy for CJR. We talked about diversity in journalism, the evolution of the Prizes, and more.
  • The future: In March, journalists gathered in midtown Manhattan to where board leaders spoke about the weight of the Pulitzer’s legacy, as well as its role in defending journalism.
  • Tune in: Watch this year’s announcements live on the Pulitzer website.
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Other notable stories

  • Kevin Feeney, who wrote the first profile of Facebook for the Harvard Crimson, spoke with CJR contributor Elon Green about his story, amidst Mark Zuckerberg’s Congressional hearings last week and the company’s assorted scandals.
  • Longreads’ Danielle Tcholakian asks the question, “Why can’t female reporters stay in the picture?,” following last week’s announcement that the movie about Rob Ford, the controversial former mayor of Toronto, would feature a male actor in the reporter role, even though the story is based on the dogged work of the Toronto Star’s Robyn Doolittle.
  • ICYMI: “I never got any help, any kind of therapy. I never told anyone.” A heartbreaking read about the legacy of childhood trauma from author award-winning author Junot Díaz in The New Yorker.
  • The turmoil in Denver continues: The Boulder Daily Camera’s publisher, also owned by Alden Global Capital (the Denver Post’s owner), killed an editorial criticizing Alden this weekend.
  • For CJR, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer details the Los Angeles Times’s “step toward fairness” following the release of its wage information last week vis-à-vis the newly formed NewsGuild-Communication Workers of America.
  • “The President is not above the law.” That’s the headline for a special editorial from the New York Times posted online Sunday (it takes up a full page in today’s print edition).
  • Writer Roxane Gay has put together an incredible month-long magazine on Medium called Unruly Bodies. Featuring 25 different writers, it explores our ever-changing relationship with our bodies  through reported features and personal essays, including this introductory piece from Gay.
  • And, finally, CJR is co-sponsoring an event in Chicago with City Bureau tonight! If you’re in the area, stop by Columbia College at 6:30pm to hear from the journalists, writers, and filmmakers telling the story of Black Chicago. And if you can’t make it, tune into the livestream here.

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Meg Dalton is a freelance journalist and audio producer based in Connecticut. She's reported and edited for CJR, PBS NewsHour, Energy News Network, Architectural Digest, MediaShift, Hearst Connecticut newspapers, and more. Follow her on Twitter: @megdalts. Find her on Twitter @megdalts.