Some day in the distant future, scholars looking back on the evolution (devolution?) of the American news business will consider May 6, 2024 a date worthy of note. They’ll see it as the day the most prestigious prizes in journalism reflected the changing face of the field itself. On Monday afternoon, the 108th edition of the Pulitzer Prizes was announced. In some ways, the winners and finalists were familiar: important investigations, incisive commentary, tremendous photography. But the list of honorees also highlighted three major ongoing shifts in American journalism:
- The best works of journalism are increasingly produced by just a few high-end institutions.
- The decline in local and regional newspapers has pushed online-native outlets to the forefront.
- The work historically performed by newspapers is increasingly done by other forms of media.
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Now let’s move to yesterday’s announcement. This year’s Pulitzer finalists came from just eight newspapers, four wire services, three magazines, three TV outlets, one radio network — and a whopping 12 online news organizations.
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The newspapers: The New York Times (8 finalists), The Washington Post (6), the Los Angeles Times (2), the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the Miami Herald, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Tennessean, and The Villages Daily Sun.
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The wire services: The Associated Press (2 finalists), Bloomberg (2), Reuters (2), and Agence France Presse.
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Magazines: The New Yorker (5 finalists), The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books. TV: NBC News, Frontline, and Cox Media Group.
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Radio: New Hampshire Public Radio.
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Online outlets: ProPublica (2 finalists), Invisible Institute (2), Alabama Reflector, City Bureau, Honolulu Civil Beat, KFF Health News, Lookout Santa Cruz3, Mississippi Today, Stat, The Marshall Project, The Texas Tribune, and USG Audio.