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Pulitzer Prize is a United States award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism. The award also honors literary achievements and musical compositions. The very first Pulitzer Prizes were awarded on June 4, 1917, and in recent times, they are announced each year, in the month of April.

Recipients of the award are chosen by an independent board officially administered by Columbia University in the United States. The prize was established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher in the late 19th century.

The name Pulitzer is often mispronounced as "pew-litser." The correct pronunciation, according to administrators of the prize, should sound like the phrase, "Pull it, sir."

Another misnomer is the term Pulitzer nominee. Many authors and journalists claim to be nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, when in fact they are merely unsuccessful entrants who did nothing more than pay the entry fee. According to the Pulitzer administrators, only the nominated finalists chosen by Pulitzer juries, usually three per category, are entitled to be called Pulitzer nominees, or finalists.

Awards are given out in categories relating to journalism, arts and letters. Only published reports and photographs by United States-based newspapers or daily news organizations are eligible for the journalism prize.

These are the Pulitzer Prize category definitions in the 2004 competition:

• Beat Reporting - For a distinguished example of beat reporting characterized by sustained and knowledgeable coverage of a particular subject or activity.
• Breaking News Reporting - For a distinguished example of local reporting of breaking news.
• Breaking News Photography / Spot News Photography - For a distinguished example of breaking news photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.
• Commentary - For distinguished commentary.
• Criticism - For distinguished criticism.
• Editorial Cartooning - For a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect.
• Editorial Writing - For distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, moral purpose, sound reasoning, and power to influence public opinion in what the writer conceives to be the right direction.
• Explanatory Reporting - For a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear presentation.
• Feature Photography - For a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.
• Feature Writing - For a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high literary quality and originality.
• International Reporting - For a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence.
• Investigative Reporting - For a distinguished example of investigative reporting by an individual or team, presented as a single article or series.
• National Reporting - For a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs.
• Public Service - For a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper through the use of its journalistic resources which may include editorials, cartoons, and photographs, as well as reporting.

There are also five letters (books) categories:

• Biography or Autobiography - For a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author.
• Fiction - For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life.
• General Non-Fiction - For a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in any other category.
• History - For a distinguished book upon the history of the United States.
• Poetry - For a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author.

There are two other humanities categories that have been added:

• Drama
• Music

There have also been a number of Special Citations and Awards.

In addition to the prizes, Pulitzer travelling fellowships are awarded to four outstanding students of the Graduate School of Journalism as selected by the faculty.

Discontinued awards

Over the years, awards have been discontinued either because they have been expanded, renamed, or made obsolete by technology. They include:

• Correspondence
• Explanatory Journalism (became Explanatory Reporting)
• General News Reporting
• Local General Spot News Reporting
• Local Investigative Specialized Reporting
• Local Reporting
• Local Reporting, Edition Time
• Local Reporting, No Edition Time
• Photography
• Telegraphic Reporting - International (became Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting)
• Telegraphic Reporting - National (became Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting)
• the Novel (became Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)

Winners

v t e Pulitzer Prize
Joseph Pulitzer Columbia University Winners Multi-award winners Special Citations and Awards
Pulitzers by Year	1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Categories	Journalism Public Service International Reporting National Reporting Breaking News Reporting Investigative Reporting Local Reporting Explanatory Reporting Audio Reporting Editorial Writing Feature Writing Breaking News Photography Feature Photography Commentary Criticism Illustrated Reporting and Commentary Former Reporting Correspondence Photography Beat Reporting Letters, Drama, & Music Biography Memoir or Autobiography History General Nonfiction Fiction Poetry Drama Music

The Pulitzer Prize and popular culture

• In the LucasArts graphical adventure game Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988), a journalist named Zack McCracken tries to win the Pulitzer Prize.
• In the ABC soap opera All My Children the character Edmund Grey (John Callahan) was a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.
• Homer Simpson won the Pulitzer for publishing a gossip internet page in an episode of The Simpsons.
• In the short-lived series The Critic (and also revealed on The Simpsons), Jay Sherman spends the latter part of an episode seeking a second Pulitzer Prize.
• In the DC Comics universe, Clark Kent has been described as a Pulitzer Prize winner.

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External links

2. Part 2

• Pulitzer Prize website
• Most honored Pulitzer Prize finalists
• Newseum Pulitzer Prize Photographs

• Prizes
• Journalism awards
• Pulitzer Prizes
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism