The Pulitzer Prize was created in honor of Joseph Pulitzer
who left a donation of 500,000 dollars to Columbia State University after he
died. The donation was to create awards for journalism, letters, music and
fellowships. The first award was awarded in 1917. Ever since, the awards have
varied in number per category but usually journalism dominates with the most
awards. There is currently one prize for for music, four prizes for fellowships,
six for letters, and fourteen for journalism. The Pulitzer Prize is considered
to be journalism’s most prestigious awards. The winner in the public service
category receives a gold medal, and the other winners are awarded $10,000 each.
In order to enter, one has to
distinguish him or herself a writer and submit their entry to the board. The
board then picks a winner for each category and the winner is announced every
April.
The Feature Writing Award was presented
to Amy Ellis Nutt of the Star-Ledger for her article on the sinking of a boat
in Atlantic Ocean that killed six people. The wreck of the Lady Mary was an in
depth investigation of how the commercial ship sunk. Results of a U.S. Coast
Guard investigation still have not been announced, but several experts
interviewed by Nutt and Malok suspect the boat was either swamped in rough seas
or forced under by a passing container ship. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/the_wreck_of_the_lady_mary_cha.html
The award for Commentary was
presented to Paige St. John of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. She wrote on
weaknesses of the property-insurance system necessary to Florida homeowners. In a two-year investigation, St. John inspected
the property insurance system and created a distinct database that assessed
insurer dependability.
Another interesting award is for Editorial Cartooning given
to Mike Keefe of The Denver Post. According to the Pulitzer Prize website, the
cartoonist is rewarded “For a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons
characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing and pictorial
effect, in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).” Editorial
page editor Dan Haley said it's that kind of interaction with the reading
public that makes Keefe invaluable to the newspaper.
This shows that Pulitzer Prize Award is presented for a variety
of things from photographs to cartoons to commentary. Even outside of the
journalism awards, there is a variety of awards for things like history,
poetry, and music.
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