ProPublica wins Pulitzer with digital-only series

For the first time ever, a Pulitzer Prize was awarded for a ‘digital-only’ story. ProPublica, a non-profit news startup, scooped up a Pulitzer Prize on Monday, its second in two years and the first ever for a series of stories that were not also published in print.

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. The organisation claims that their work “focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with ‘moral force’.”

Other winners of the 95th annual Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious US journalism awards, were The New York Times, which won two awards, and The Los Angeles Times, which also won two.

The Washington Post, The Boston Globe and The Wall Street Journal won one each along with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Chicago Sun-Times, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and the Denver Post.

Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein of ProPublica were honored this year in the National Reporting category for their series of stories on how dubious practices on Wall Street contributed to the economic crisis.

The series was not published in print, unlike the Pulitzer won by ProPublica last year, which it shared with The New York Times Magazine for a story on a New Orleans hospital in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

ProPublica began operations in June 2008.

The Pulitzers, which date back to 1917, began allowing online-only publications to compete two years ago.

Clifford Levy and Ellen Barry of The New York Times won the 2011 Pulitzer for International Reporting for their coverage of the justice system in Russia while the New York Times’s David Leonhardt won the award for Commentary.

The Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer for Public Service for its coverage of corruption in a small California town and another for Feature Photography.

The Washington Post was honored in the Breaking News Photography category while The Wall Street Journal’s Joseph Rago won for Editorial Writing and The Boston Globe’s Sebastian Smee for Criticism.

Besides journalism, the Pulitzer Board, made up of journalists from around the country and representatives of New York’s Columbia University, also hands out awards for literature, drama and music.

Jennifer Egan won the Pulitzer for Fiction for her book “A Visit from the Goon Squad” while Bruce Norris won for Drama for his play “Clybourne Park.”

Eric Foner won the Pulitzer for History for his book “The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery” while Ron Chernow won in the Biography category for “Washington: A Life.”

The Pulitzer for Poetry went to Kay Ryan for “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems” while the General Nonfiction award went to Siddhartha Mukherjee for “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.”

The Pulitzer for musical composition went to Zhou Long for “Madame White Snake.” — AFP