Pulitzer Prize for Commentary
Encyclopedia
The Pulitzer Prize
for Commentary has been awarded since 1970. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Commentary has been awarded since 1970. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award.
List of winners and their official citations
- 1970: Marquis W. Childs, St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, "distinguished commentary during 1969." - 1971: William A. CaldwellWilliam A. CaldwellWilliam Anthony Caldwell was an American journalist and columnist who spent 48 years at The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey. He won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary....
, The RecordThe Record (Bergen County)The Record is a newspaper in northern New Jersey. It has the second largest circulation of New Jersey's daily newspapers, behind The Star-Ledger. Owned by the Borg family since 1930, it is the flagship publication of the North Jersey Media Group. Stephen Borg is the publisher of The Record...
(Hackensack, New JerseyHackensack, New JerseyHackensack is a city in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and the county seat of Bergen County. Although informally called Hackensack, it was officially named New Barbadoes Township until 1921. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 43,010....
), "for his commentary in his daily column." - 1972: Mike RoykoMike RoykoMichael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
, Chicago Daily NewsChicago Daily NewsThe Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
, "for his columns during 1971." - 1973: David S. BroderDavid S. BroderDavid Salzer Broder was an American journalist, writing for The Washington Post for over forty years. He also was an author, television news show pundit, and university lecturer....
, Washington Post, "for his columns during 1972." - 1974: Edwin A. Roberts Jr., National Observer, "for his commentary on public affairs during 1973."
- 1975: Mary McGroryMary McGroryMary McGrory was a liberal American journalist and columnist. She was a fierce opponent of the Vietnam War and was on Richard Nixon's enemies list for writing "daily hate Nixon articles."...
, Washington StarWashington StarThe Washington Star, previously known as the Washington Star-News and the Washington Evening Star, was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C. between 1852 and 1981. For most of that time, it was the city's newspaper of record, and the longtime home to columnist Mary McGrory and...
, "for her commentary on public affairs during 1974." - 1976: Walter Wellesley (Red) SmithRed Smith (sportswriter)For other uses, see: Red Smith Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith was an American sportswriter who rose to become one of America's most widely read sports columnists.-Career:After graduating from Green Bay East High School, site of Packers home games until 1957, Smith moved on to...
, New York Times, "for his commentary on sports in 1975 and for many other years." - 1977: George F. Will, Washington Post Writers GroupThe Washington Post Writers GroupThe Washington Post Writers Group is a press syndication service composed of opinion journalists, editorial cartoonists, comic strips and columnists. The service is operated by the Washington Post.-Writers:...
, for distinguished commentary on a variety of topics." - 1978: William SafireWilliam SafireWilliam Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
, New York Times, "for commentary on the Bert LanceBert LanceThomas Bertram Lance is an American businessman, who was Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter. He is known mainly for his resignation from President Jimmy Carter's administration due to scandal in 1977.- Early Life :Lance was born in Gainesville, Georgia...
affair. - 1979: Russell BakerRussell BakerRussell Wayne Baker is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer known for his satirical commentary and self-critical prose, as well as for his autobiography, Growing Up.-His career:...
, New York Times - 1980: Ellen H. Goodman, Boston Globe
- 1981: Dave AndersonDave Anderson (sportswriter)Dave Anderson is an American sportswriter based in New York City. After graduating in 1947 from Xavier High School - an elite Jesuit preparatory school in New York City - Anderson attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, graduating in 1951.Anderson has written for a number of New...
, New York Times, "for his commentary on sports." - 1982: Art BuchwaldArt BuchwaldArthur Buchwald was an American humorist best known for his long-running column in The Washington Post, which in turn was carried as a syndicated column in many other newspapers. His column focused on political satire and commentary...
, Los Angeles Times SyndicateLos Angeles Times SyndicateThe Los Angeles Times Syndicate and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate International are newspaper syndicates which sold more than 140 features in more than 100 countries around the world.... - 1983: Claude SittonClaude SittonClaude Fox Sitton is a retired American newspaper reporter and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He covered the civil rights movement for The New York Times during the 1950s and 1960s, eventually becoming the paper's national editor...
, Raleigh (N. C.) News & ObserverThe News & ObserverThe News & Observer is the regional daily newspaper of the Research Triangle area of the U.S. State of North Carolina. The N&O, as it is popularly called, is based in Raleigh and also covers Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill. The paper also has substantial readership in most of the state east of... - 1984: Vermont C. Royster, Wall Street Journal,
- 1985: Murray KemptonMurray KemptonJames Murray Kempton was an influential, Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist.-Biography:Kempton was born in Baltimore on December 16, 1917. His mother was Sally Ambler and his father was James Branson Kempton, a stock broker...
, NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, N.Y., "for witty and insightful reflection on public issues in 1984 and throughout a distinguished career." - 1986: Jimmy BreslinJimmy BreslinJimmy Breslin is an American journalist and author. He currently writes a column for the New York Daily News' Sunday edition. He has written numerous novels, and columns of his have appeared regularly in various newspapers in his hometown of New York City...
, New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, "for columns which consistently champion ordinary citizens." - 1987: Charles KrauthammerCharles KrauthammerCharles Krauthammer, MD is an American Pulitzer Prize–winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. His weekly column appears in The Washington Post and is syndicated to more than 275 newspapers and media outlets. He is a contributing editor to the Weekly Standard and The New...
, Washington Post Writers Group, "for his witty and insightful columns on national issues." - 1988: Dave BarryDave BarryDavid "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
, Miami Herald, "for his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns." - 1989: Clarence PageClarence PageClarence Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of The Chicago Tribune editorial board.-Early years:...
, Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, "for his provocative columns on local and national affairs." - 1990: Jim MurrayJim Murray (sportswriter)James Patrick Murray was an American sportswriter at the Los Angeles Times from 1961 to 1998.Many of his achievements include winning the NSSA's Sportswriter of the Year award an astounding fourteen times...
, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, "for his sports columns." - 1991: Jim HoaglandJim HoaglandJim Hoagland is an American journalist and two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. He is an associate editor, senior foreign correspondent, and columnist for The Washington Post....
, Washington Post, "for searching and prescient columns on events leading up to the Gulf WarGulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
and on the political problems of Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
." - 1992: Anna QuindlenAnna QuindlenAnna Marie Quindlen is an American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992. She began her journalism career in 1974 as a reporter for the New York Post...
, New York Times, "for her compelling columns on a wide range of personal and political topics." - 1993: Liz BalmasedaLiz BalmasedaLiz Balmaseda is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who writes for the The Palm Beach Post newspaper.Balmaseda was born in Puerto Padre, Cuba amidst the Cuban Revolution. Her family emigrated to the United States, and she grew up in Miami, Florida...
, Miami Herald, "for her commentary from Haiti about deteriorating political and social conditions and her columns about Cuban-Americans in Miami." - 1994: William RaspberryWilliam RaspberryWilliam Raspberry is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning syndicated American public affairs columnist. He was also the Knight Professor of the Practice of Communications and Journalism at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University...
, Washington Post, "for his compelling commentaries on a variety of social and political topics." - 1995: Jim Dwyer, NewsdayNewsdayNewsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, Long IslandLong IslandLong Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, N.Y., for his compelling and compassionate columns about New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. - 1996: E.R. ShippE.R. ShippE.R. Shipp is an American journalist and columnist. As a columnist for the New York Daily News, she was awarded the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary for "her penetrating columns on race, welfare and other social issues."...
, New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, for her penetrating columns on race, welfare and other social issues. - 1997: Eileen McNamaraEileen McNamaraEileen McNamara, is a columnist for Boston_ and a journalism professor at Brandeis University. She is a former Boston Globe columnist, where she won the Pulitzer Prize....
, Boston Globe, "for her many-sided columns on MassachusettsMassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
people and issues." - 1998: Mike McAlaryMike McAlaryMike McAlary was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist who worked at the New York Daily News for 12 years, beginning with the police beat....
, New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, "for reporting on the brutalization of a Haitian immigrant by police officersAbner LouimaAbner Louima is a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a bathroom plunger by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997....
at a Brooklyn stationhouse." - 1999: Maureen DowdMaureen DowdMaureen Bridgid Dowd is a Washington D.C.-based columnist for The New York Times and best-selling author. During the 1970s and the early 1980s, she worked for Time magazine and the Washington Star, where she covered news as well as sports and wrote feature articles...
, New York Times, "for her fresh and insightful columns on the impact of President Clinton's affair with Monica LewinskyLewinsky scandalThe Lewinsky scandal was a political sex scandal emerging in 1998 from a sexual relationship between United States President Bill Clinton and a 25-year-old White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. The news of this extra-marital affair and the resulting investigation eventually led to the impeachment of...
." - 2000: Paul A. Gigot, Wall Street Journal, "for his informative and insightful columns on politics and government."
- 2001: Dorothy RabinowitzDorothy RabinowitzDorothy Rabinowitz is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American conservative journalist and commentator. She was born in New York City, and was educated at Queens College and New York University...
, Wall Street Journal, "for her articles on American society and culture." - 2002: Thomas FriedmanThomas FriedmanThomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...
, New York Times, "for his clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terroristTerrorismTerrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
threat." - 2003: Colbert I. KingColbert I. KingColbert I. King is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post. He is deputy editor of the Posts editorial page....
, Washington Post, "for his against-the-grain columns that speak to people in power with ferocity and wisdom." - 2004: Leonard PittsLeonard PittsLeonard Pitts Jr. is a politically progressive African American commentator, journalist and novelist. He is a nationally-syndicated columnist and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary...
, Miami Herald, "for his fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues." - 2005: Connie SchultzConnie SchultzConnie Schultz , of Avon, Ohio, has been a nationally syndicated columnist based at The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper. She won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for commentary and had been finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in feature writing....
of Plain Dealer, Cleveland, "for her pungent columns that provided a voice for the underdog and underprivileged." - 2006: Nicholas D. KristofNicholas D. KristofNicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the...
of New York Times, "for his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world." - 2007: Cynthia TuckerCynthia TuckerCynthia Tucker is an American columnist and blogger for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. She received a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2007 "for her courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the...
of The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
, "for her courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the community." - 2008: Steven PearlsteinSteven PearlsteinSteven Pearlstein is an American columnist. He writes a column on business and the economy that is published twice weekly in The Washington Post...
of The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, "for his insightful columns that explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity." - 2009: Eugene RobinsonEugene Robinson (journalist)Eugene Harold Robinson is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper columnist and former assistant managing editor for The Washington Post. His columns are syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group...
of The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, "for his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaignUnited States presidential election, 2008The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture." - 2010: Kathleen ParkerKathleen ParkerKathleen Parker is an American syndicated columnist. Her columns are syndicated nationally by The Washington Post. Parker is a consulting faculty member at the Buckley School of Public Speaking, and is a regular guest on television shows like The O'Reilly Factor and The Chris Matthews Show....
of The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, "for her perceptive, often witty columns on an array of political and moral issues." - 2011: David LeonhardtDavid LeonhardtDavid Leonhardt is the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. He joined The Times in 1999 and wrote the "Economics Scene" column, and for the Times Sunday Magazine. Before coming to The Times, he wrote for Business Week and The Washington Post...
of New York Times, "for his graceful penetration of America’s complicated economic questions, from the federal budget deficit to health care reform."