On Monday, May 4th, 2020, the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievement in journalism, literature, drama, and music. There are 21 categories and a cash prize of $15,000 USD for the winner of 20 of the categories. The winner of the Public Service category is awarded a gold medal. Here are some of the highlights from the 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners. 

Journalism

PUBLIC SERVICE – Anchorage Daily News with contributions from ProPublica

A series of articles published between May-December 2019 revealed a law enforcement crisis in Alaska as a third of Alaska’s villages had no police protection (criminals were sometimes the only ones who applied), risking public safety. After decades of neglect, this spurred an influx of money and legislative changes. 

BREAKING NEWS REPORTING – Staff of the Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky

A series of ten articles published in twenty days between December 11-December 31, 2019 that covered hundreds of last-minute pardons from Kentucky’s governor and the process and controversy of his choices including a convicted murderer and convicted child rapist. The articles revealed the pardon process was riddled with racial discrimination and violation of legal norms. 

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING – Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

Rosenthal did an in-depth expose on New York’s taxi industry with a focus on how predatory lenders profited from lending money to drivers so that drivers could secure a medallion, which allows a driver to own a cab. The drivers were taking out loans they couldn’t afford as the price of medallions skyrocketed, ruining the lives of drivers. This led to wide-scale state and federal investigations and reforms. 

Books, Drama, and Music

FICTION – The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead

Curtis Elwood, a black boy living in Tallahassee, Florida in the 1960s, is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reform school called Nickel Academy. The school isn’t as advertised and is a place where sadistic staff members beat and sexually abuse students and where boys who resist disappear. Curtis tries to remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, that he is “as good as anyone” while these horrors unfold around him.

DRAMA- A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson

A Strange Loop is a metafictional musical with book, music, and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson. Usher is a queer, black writer who is working at a day job he hates while writing his original musical. Usher’s musical is about a queer, black writer who is working at a day job he hates while writing his original musical. Usher struggles with his inner thoughts and demons to understand his strange loop. 

MUSIC – The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis

The Central Park Five is an opera that premiered at Long Beach Opera that is based on a true story. In New York in the 1980s, five black and Latino teenagers were in the wrong place at the wrong time and were wrongfully accused of rape. The Central Park Five were exonerated 13 years later through DNA evidence. With a powerful score and libretto by Richard Wesley, this story is still relevant to America today. 

For a complete list of winners and finalists of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize, visit pulitzer.org.