Pulitzer's Gold: Behind the Prize for Public Service Journalism

Appendix

         The Gold Medal in History ghis listing includes all journalism Pulitzer Prizes awarded from  through . Each year’s entry is led by the actual Public Service citation prepared by the Pulitzer Prize Board before its announcement. Some citations are terse and some quite florid. They often reflect in a few words the board’s feelings about the winner. Others say almost nothing. The actual prize listings generally reflect the wording as listed on the www.Pulitzer.org Web site. Pulitzer’s Gold views the development of American journalism through the lens provided by the Pulitzer Public Service body of work. The book concentrates on selected cases so that readers can follow themes in coverage—and in the board’s selection process— through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. The sampling also attempts to shed light on the evolution of the Public Service Prize itself, first as the Pulitzer Prize Board struggled to give it an identity, and later as the nature of newspaper public service broadened to reflect new kinds of journalism. Choosing which winners to abbreviate in this appendix was often extremely difficult. Many examples deserve entire books of their own.The author is also sadly aware that many fascinating “stories behind the stories” involved with the Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service remain untold. The following descriptions reflect reviews of entries and supporting material in Columbia University’s Pulitzer Prize archives, and comments from the jurors that the Pulitzer Prize office provided. These summaries employ Editor & Publisher’s annual discussion of prize-winners, along with other observations as noted.  Public Service: No Award Reporting: Herbert Bayard Swope, New York World Editorial Writing: New York Tribune   Public Service: New York Times, for its public service in publishing in full so many official reports, documents, and speeches by European statesmen relating to the progress and conduct of the war. Reporting: Harold A. Littledale, New York Evening Post Editorial Writing: Louisville Courier Journal  Public Service: Milwaukee Journal, for its strong and courageous campaign for Americanism in a constituency where foreign elements made such a policy hazardous from a business point of view. Reporting: No Award Editorial Writing: No Award  Public Service: No Award Reporting: John J. Leary Jr., New York World Editorial Writing: Harvey E. Newbranch, Evening World Herald, Omaha  Public Service: Boston Post, for its exposure of the operations of Charles Ponzi by a series of articles which finally led to his arrest. Reporting: Louis Siebold, New York World Editorial Writing: No Award  Public Service—New York World, for articles exposing the operations of the Ku Klux Klan, published during September and October, . Reporting: Kirke L. Simpson, Associated Press Editorial Writing: Frank M. O’Brien, New York Herald Editorial Cartooning: Rollin Kirby, New York World  Memphis Commercial Appeal: As a southern paper, the Commercial Appeal took special risks launching a campaign against the Ku Klux Klan in the early s. Cartoonist James Alley produced several cartoons that ridiculed Klan members, including one from December  that pictured a Klan member in full regalia reading a book titled Law Enforcement. For the first time there was real competition for the Public Service Prize. Jurors forwarded five nominees to the board, with the others—the Baltimore Sun, Boston Post, Brooklyn Standard Union, and Boston’s Christian Science Monitor—covering topics from local election abuses to Prohibition to an armslimitation conference.           Public Service: Memphis Commercial Appeal, for its courageous attitude in the publication of cartoons and the handling of news in reference to the operations of the Ku Klux Klan. Reporting: Alva Johnson, New York Times Editorial Writing: William Allen White, Emporia (Kansas) Gazette Editorial Cartooning: No Award  Public Service: New York World, for its work in connection with the exposure of the Florida peonage evil. Reporting: Magner White, San Diego Sun Editorial Writing: Boston Herald Editorial Cartooning: Jay Norwood Darling, Des Moines Register & Tribune  Public Service: No Award Reporting: James W. Mulroy, Alvin H. Goldstein, Chicago Daily News Editorial Writing: Charleston (S.C.) News & Courier Editorial Cartooning: Rollin Kirby, New York World  Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer Sun: The Pulitzer board picked the Enquirer Sun from seventeen Public Service entries. The Columbus paper’s submission was mainly a series of opinion pieces written by editor Julian LaRose Harris. Opposition to the Ku Klux Klan was prominent among the articles, but other topics were covered, too. One column opposed those who stood against teaching evolution. (The ScopesTrial in Tennessee had captivated the nation...