The 2021 Pulitzers

Since 1917, the Pulitzer Prizes have been awarding American journalists and writers. These prestigious awards were established by Joseph Pulitzer to recognize the best in journalism, literature, and musical composition.

This year, the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on June 11 on a YouTube Livestream. Mindy Marqués and Stephen Engelberg, who are co-chairs of the Pulitzer Prize board, directed the event and all the winners were announced by a narrator.

At the ceremony, Marqués highlighted how difficult the past year was for the media. She said that in 2020, “the nation’s news organizations faced the complexity of sequentially covering a global pandemic, a racial reckoning, and a bitterly contested presidential election.” These major events were reflected in this year’s winners.

One example of this is the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, which won the breaking news reporting prize for covering George Floyd’s murder and its aftermath. Additionally, teenager Darnella Frazier received a special citation after recording the killing on her phone.

Reuters reporters Andrew Chung, Lawrence Hurley, Andrea Januta, Jaimi Dowdell, and Jackie Botts were cited by the Pulitzer awards. The board recognized the “pioneering data analysis” of their Shielded series. In their work, the reporters unveiled how police who use excessive force shield themselves from being persecuted, an important topic during current times.

“In a year of tumultuous protest over police killings of Black Americans, Shielded was a work of tremendous moral force about the intractable problem facing the world’s most powerful democracy, the legacy of racial injustice,” said Alessandra Galloni, Reuters editor-in-chief.

For their coverage of the racial injustice protests, the Associated Press won a Pulitzer Prize in photography. Their depiction of coronavirus’ terrible effects on the elderly was also awarded. Similarly, The New York Times was recognized with the public service award for its reporting on the global pandemic.

Other significant winners of the event were Buzzfeed, and The Atlantic, who received their first Pulitzer prizes. The former was granted the award for its series that exposed China’s mass detention of Muslims, which included satellite images, 3D architectural models, and in-person interviews. For the latter, the recognition was directed to Ed Yong’s pieces that anticipated the COVID-19 pandemic and synthesized the challenges the U.S. faced.

Bibliography

First Post (2021, June 12) Pulitzer Prize 2021: Associated Press, New York Times win for pandemic reportage, protest coverage. First post. https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/pulitzer-prize-2021-associated-press-new-york-times-win-for-pandemic-reportage-protest-coverage-9709161.html

Hardy, L. (2021, June 11) Winner, Winner: Announcing the 2021 Pulitzer Prize Winners. Book riot. https://bookriot.com/2021-pulitzer-prize-winners/

The national news (2021, June 12) Pulitzer Prize 2021: reporting on Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter movement recognised in journalism awards. The national news. https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/pulitzer-prize-2021-reporting-on-covid-19-and-black-lives-matter-movement-recognised-in-journalism-awards-1.1239675