What is the significance of the pulitzer prize

May 4, - The Pulitzer Prizes are announced. Joseph Pulitzer, known as one of the greatest newspaper publishers in US history, established the award as part of his will. Read More. The pronunciation of Pulitzer is "pull it sir. Currently, there are 22 categories and five fellowships. Drama: Theatrical play. Music: Musical Composition.

The Public Service category winner of the Journalism competition is the only one awarded a gold medal. This prize is always awarded to a newspaper, not to an individual person.

Official rules for entry can be found on the Pulitzer website. Louis Post-Dispatch. He made it his goal to condemn public and private corruption whether it be at the hands of the government or wealthy business owners. Pulitzer's papers were widely circulated. One example of his impact can be seen in the way in which he was able to raise funds by subscription to build a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty which was awaiting shipment from France.

By the late s, The World had the highest circulation of any paper in the country. Pulitzer himself soon became the basis for attacks from competing newspapers who were jealous of his success. In one such case, Charles Anderson Dana, publisher of The Sun , painted Pulitzer as a man who had abandoned his religion in favor of wealth and fame. The attack on Pulitzer was thorough and sought to ostracize him from the Jewish readership in New York.

Pulitzer's already failing health took a hit as a result of these smear campaigns. He spent most of his later years secluded on a yacht or in specially designed spaces that cushioned him from noise. Still, he remained in complete control of his papers, offering direction and guidance from where ever he was in the world.

Pulitzer believed strongly in the power of investigative journalism. He refused to back down when he was accused of libel for The World's work exposing fraudulent payments by the U. When the charges were eventually thrown out, Pulitzer's victory was a huge victory for freedom of speech and of the press. His thoughts on journalism can be summed up in a paragraph he wrote in The North American Review in favor of founding a journalism school :.

An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself.

The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations. Upon his death, Pulitzer left money to Columbia University to start a journalism school and launch four awards in the field. The first awards were presented on June 4, , but currently Pulitzer Prize winners are announced in April. Since the prize was established, various categories have been added, merged, or removed to reflect changes in journalism and technology.

For example, the award for telegraphic reporting has been rendered obsolete. Pulitzer Prize-winning works in Fiction from the past two decades include:.

Several times throughout the history of the award, no prize has been given in the fiction category. This occurred in , , , , , and In , the three-person jury for Fiction actually nominated Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow for the award, but in an incredibly controversial decision, the committee overturned the nomination and chose to give no award instead.

In , no award was granted in the category of Fiction as well, though three finalists were named: Train Dreams Denis Johnson ; Swamplandia! The decision to grant no award sparked considerable controversy among the literary community. Heated debate ensued over what constitutes "great" literature and writing.

Whatever "great" writing is, it is safe to say that Joseph Pulitzer made a place for it, and we are grateful he foresaw the need to champion and award those who continue to seek truth and excellence through the written word. We're looking forward to seeing who joins the prestigious list of Pulitzer Prize winners this afternoon!

Source: Biography of Joseph Pulitzer. A blog about books.