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Pulitzer's Gold: Behind the Prize for Public Service Journalism
No journalism awards are awaited with as much anticipation as the Pulitzer Prizes. And among those Pulitzers, none is more revered than the Joseph Pulitzer Gold Medal. "Pulitzer's Gold" is the first book to trace the ninety-year history of the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, awarded annually to a newspaper rather than to individuals, in the form of that Gold Medal. Exploring this service-journalism legacy, Roy Harris recalls dozens of 'stories behind the stories', often allowing the journalists involved to share their own accounts. Harris takes his Gold Medal saga through two world wars, the Great Depression, the civil rights struggle, and the Vietnam era before bringing public-service journalism into a twenty-first century that includes 9/11, a Catholic Church scandal, and corporate exposes. "Pulitzer's Gold" offers a new way of looking at journalism history and practice and a new lens through which to view America's own story.
488 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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34 people want to read
About the author
Roy J. Harris Jr.
3 books1 followerRoy J. Harris Jr. has been a journalist for some of the nation's most respected news organizations for four decades. From 1971 to 1994 he served as a reporter and editor for the Wall Street Journal, including six years as deputy chief of its 14-member Los Angeles bureau. His next 13 years were as senior editor of The Economist Group's Boston-based CFO magazine and CFO.com. He currently works from his home in Hingham, Mass.
As a commentator on press public service and the Pulitzer Prizes, he regularly contributes to the Web site of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based Poynter Institute. He has taught journalism as an adjunct professor at Emerson College in Boston, and loves discussing Pulitzer-winning journalism with college classes around the country. While with CFO, from 2006 to 2007 Harris was national president of the 800-member American Society of Business Publication Editors. He currently serves as ASBPE Foundation president, and is a founding member of the ASBPE ethics committee.
The son of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Harris began his career as a copyboy and later a reporter for the Post-Dispatch. While attending Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism he was managing editor of the Daily Northwestern. In 1968 he reported for the Los Angeles Times, where one assignment was helping cover the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
After three years at the Journal in Pittsburgh he moved to the West Coast, taking over the Journal's aerospace beat and writing about airlines, entertainment and sports--including the 1984 Summer Olympics. As deputy bureau chief he helped coordinate coverage of such stories as the 1992 race rioting that followed the police beating of Rodney King, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
His research for Pulitzer's Gold began in 2002, when he returned to St. Louis to make a presentation, on the hundredth anniversary of his father's birth, about the five Public Service Pulitzers won by the Post-Dispatch.
As a commentator on press public service and the Pulitzer Prizes, he regularly contributes to the Web site of the St. Petersburg, Florida-based Poynter Institute. He has taught journalism as an adjunct professor at Emerson College in Boston, and loves discussing Pulitzer-winning journalism with college classes around the country. While with CFO, from 2006 to 2007 Harris was national president of the 800-member American Society of Business Publication Editors. He currently serves as ASBPE Foundation president, and is a founding member of the ASBPE ethics committee.
The son of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Harris began his career as a copyboy and later a reporter for the Post-Dispatch. While attending Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism he was managing editor of the Daily Northwestern. In 1968 he reported for the Los Angeles Times, where one assignment was helping cover the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
After three years at the Journal in Pittsburgh he moved to the West Coast, taking over the Journal's aerospace beat and writing about airlines, entertainment and sports--including the 1984 Summer Olympics. As deputy bureau chief he helped coordinate coverage of such stories as the 1992 race rioting that followed the police beating of Rodney King, and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
His research for Pulitzer's Gold began in 2002, when he returned to St. Louis to make a presentation, on the hundredth anniversary of his father's birth, about the five Public Service Pulitzers won by the Post-Dispatch.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 27, 2009
This book is a history of the Pulitzer Public Service Gold Medal for Journalism -- the prize the Washington Post won for its Watergate coverage in the '70s and the New York Times for publishing the Pentagon Papers in the same decade. More recently, the prize has been won by The Wall Street Journal for its reporting on the manipulation of stock-options for business executives and The Times-Picayune in New Orleans and the Sun-Herald of Biloxi-Gulfport, dual winners in 2006 for their reportage on Hurricane Katrina).
The book covers the basic history of the Pulitzers in general -- when and why Joseph Pulitzer established them, the reaction from other journalists and newspaper publishers, how the awards process changed over the decades. But the main meat of the book consists of mini-case studies of some of the papers and stories that have won the prize throughout the years -- including some surprisingly small papers that you might not think had a chance at a Pulitzer.
I found it fascinating reading, like opening a window onto the workings of daily newspapers. You get an insight into some of the problems that come up in the reporting process and the sheer volume of work and number of hours that's involved in much of the news gathering. If anyone doubts that the current financial struggles of newspapers might have a negative impact on the news we get to read, they'll see very clearly why that's the case.
I especially enjoyed learning about some of the stories I hadn't read or heard of. Some were heartbreaking, like the story of a Texas marine recruit killed during training. On a tip from one of his relatives (the family was simply told that it was an "accidental death"), the tiny Lufkin (Texas) News investigated and uncovered evidence of a coverup, which prompted Congress to hold hearings on recruitment techniques.
I'd highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in journalism.
The book covers the basic history of the Pulitzers in general -- when and why Joseph Pulitzer established them, the reaction from other journalists and newspaper publishers, how the awards process changed over the decades. But the main meat of the book consists of mini-case studies of some of the papers and stories that have won the prize throughout the years -- including some surprisingly small papers that you might not think had a chance at a Pulitzer.
I found it fascinating reading, like opening a window onto the workings of daily newspapers. You get an insight into some of the problems that come up in the reporting process and the sheer volume of work and number of hours that's involved in much of the news gathering. If anyone doubts that the current financial struggles of newspapers might have a negative impact on the news we get to read, they'll see very clearly why that's the case.
I especially enjoyed learning about some of the stories I hadn't read or heard of. Some were heartbreaking, like the story of a Texas marine recruit killed during training. On a tip from one of his relatives (the family was simply told that it was an "accidental death"), the tiny Lufkin (Texas) News investigated and uncovered evidence of a coverup, which prompted Congress to hold hearings on recruitment techniques.
I'd highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in journalism.
November 11, 2009
A fascinating look at the world of newspapers and reporting, as well as an inside glance at the Pulitzer Prize. It made me proud of the things that our nation's investigative reporters have achieved; and it made me despair that this sort of reporting is being lost.
Want to read
February 2, 2008As heard on the Diane Rehm show on WAMU.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews