# Pulitzer Prize *A program of annual American awards in journalism, arts and letters, administered by Columbia University.* Columbia University in New York City administers the Pulitzer Prizes, a set of 23 American awards given each year for work in "journalism, arts and letters."[^1] The newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-born immigrant, provided for the prizes in his will. The same bequest funded the founding of the Columbia School of Journalism. The first prizes were presented in June 1917.[^1][^2] The program's stated method is that juries nominate finalists and the board chooses among them.[^1] Its documented decisions include cases where the governing body set its jurors aside. In 1921, [[Columbia's trustees]] overruled the fiction jury, which had recommended [[Sinclair Lewis]]'s *[[Main Street]]*, and gave the prize to Edith Wharton's *The Age of Innocence*. In 1941 no novel prize was given after Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler asked the committee to reconsider its choice of Ernest Hemingway's *For Whom the Bell Tolls*.[^3] The board says it chooses its members and jurors with attention to "professional excellence and affiliation, as well as diversity in terms of gender, ethnic background, geographical distribution and size of news organization."[^4] A 2012 study by the journalism professors Yong Volz and Francis Lee found "that only 27% of Pulitzer winners since 1991 were females, while newsrooms are about 33% female."[^5] ## Who The Pulitzer Prize Board has nineteen members and meets twice a year, usually in the Joseph Pulitzer World Room at Columbia's Pulitzer Hall. Most of its members are editors, columnists and media executives. Six seats are held by people from academia and the arts, including the president of Columbia University, the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and the prize administrator, who acts as the board's secretary.[^4] The administrator and the dean take part in deliberations as ex officio members without a vote. The dean sat on the board from its founding until 1954 and again from 1976. The president and the dean hold their seats for as long as they hold their university posts, and the administrator is re-elected each year. The board elects all other members itself, to three-year terms, with a limit of three terms.[^4] Marjorie Miller, formerly an editor at the Associated Press and the *Los Angeles Times*, became administrator in April 2022. Her predecessor, Dana Canedy, a former [[New York Times]] senior editor, held the post from 2017 to 2020. Canedy left in July 2020 to become publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint. Deputy administrator Edward Kliment then served as acting administrator. He did not seek the post and returned to his deputy role when Miller was appointed.[^4] William McGill was Columbia's president and an ex officio member of the 1977 board. According to History News Network, he later said: "If we blew the Haley Prize, as we apparently did, I feel bad."[^6] ## What Of the 23 prizes, fifteen are for journalism and eight are for books, drama and music.[^1] The journalism prizes are open to United States–based newspapers, magazines and news organizations, including news websites, that publish regularly.[^7] The board and its predecessor, the Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board, long kept magazines out of the competition. That exclusion led to the creation of the National Magazine Awards at the Columbia Journalism School in 1966.[^7] Magazines were first admitted in 2015, in two categories: Investigative Reporting and Feature Writing. In 2016 three more categories were opened to them: International Reporting, Criticism and Editorial Cartooning. That year, Kathryn Schulz and Emily Nussbaum of *The New Yorker* became the first magazine affiliates to win under the wider rule. In October 2016 magazines became eligible in every journalism category.[^7] Online material was admitted in stages. From 2007, online elements were allowed in every journalism category except the two photography categories. In December 2008 the program announced that work from online-only news outlets would be considered for the first time. In 2017 the Breaking News Reporting category, previously limited to local breaking news, was widened to cover all domestic breaking news.[^7] ## When Joseph Pulitzer died on October 29, 1911. The first prizes were awarded on June 4, 1917, and the prizes are now announced in May.[^2] Each spring's awards follow the board's recommendations.[^1] The *Chicago Tribune*, under Colonel Robert R. McCormick, called the prize a "mutual admiration society." The paper stayed out of the competition during his tenure, until 1961.[^2] ## Where The prizes are administered at Columbia University in New York City.[^1] The board meets at the university's Pulitzer Hall.[^4] Eligibility depends on the category: - **Book, drama and music:** entrants must be United States citizens, permanent residents, or people who regard the United States as their longtime primary home, and the work must be published by United States–based entities. - **Journalism:** entrants of any nationality may compete, provided the work appeared in a United States–based publication.[^8] ## How Works are not considered automatically. The prizes generally consider only works that have been entered and that the administrator's staff has checked for administrative compliance. Each entry must fit at least one defined category and may be entered in no more than two.[^8] Juries review every category first.[^1] Each jury puts forward three nominations. The board may pick the winner from those nominations by simple majority. It may instead pass over the nominations and choose another entry, which requires a 75 percent vote. It may also vote to give no award.[^8] The board can also move entries from one category to another.[^1] Board members and journalism jurors are unpaid; jurors in letters, music and drama receive honoraria.[^8] The board's power to override its juries appears in the record of individual years: - **1921 fiction:** Columbia's trustees set aside the jury's recommendation of *Main Street* and gave the prize to *The Age of Innocence*.[^3] - **1941 novel:** The advisory board overruled its jury to recommend *For Whom the Bell Tolls*. Butler then urged reconsideration, citing the risk of associating the university with the novel's frank sexual content, and no award was made. Twelve years later, Hemingway won the 1953 fiction prize for *The Old Man and the Sea*.[^3] Other awards have been disputed after they were made: - **1957 biography:** The prize went to *Profiles in Courage*, credited to U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. In December 1957, journalist Drew Pearson said on *The Mike Wallace Interview* that Kennedy's speechwriter Ted Sorensen was the book's real author. The network, ABC, retracted Pearson's claim after Kennedy's father threatened to sue. In his 1980 book *Jack: The Struggles of John F. Kennedy*, Herbert Parmet concluded that Kennedy directed the book but that Sorensen did most of the work.[^3] - **1932:** Walter Duranty's 1932 prize has drawn calls for its revocation. The pack does not record the outcome.[^3] Critics have also challenged the pattern of winners: - Conservative columnist L. Brent Bozell Jr. pointed to a "liberal legacy" in the commentary prize, noting that only five conservatives won it over a 31-year period. Kathleen Parker, who won the 2010 commentary prize, wrote: "It's only because I'm a conservative basher that I'm now recognized."[^5] - The Volz and Lee study also found that female winners were more likely than men to have elite markers: Ivy League schooling, a metropolitan upbringing, or a job at a publication such as *The New York Times*.[^5] ## How much Each prize comes with a certificate and $15,000. The exception is Public Service, where the winning news organization receives a gold medal. The cash award rose from $10,000 to $15,000 starting with the 2017 prizes.[^1] Pulitzer's will set aside $250,000 for the prize and scholarships. It called for "four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one in education, and four traveling scholarships."[^2] ## How many Three finalists are named in each category.[^1] The board selects more than 100 jurors each year. They sit on 22 juries covering the 23 categories, because a single jury handles both photography awards.[^8] Most juries have five members. Juries for Public Service, Investigative Reporting, Explanatory Reporting, Feature Writing, Commentary and Audio Reporting have seven. Every book jury has five.[^8] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue entry on the prize (AI-Stearns-042) is drawn from a validated research dossier that lists pulitzer.org as its source domain. The entry states that Columbia's trustees overrode their own jury in 1921 on the ground that *Main Street* failed a "wholesome" requirement.[^9] The entry further states that in 1926 Lewis refused the Pulitzer outright. According to the entry, he cited "the Main Street burglary" and objected that the criteria judged books "not according to their actual literary merit but in obedience to whatever code of Good Form may chance to be popular."[^9] The Wikipedia account of the 1921 decision records that the trustees overruled the jury but does not state their ground.[^3] The pack does not include the trustees' own record of the decision or Lewis's 1926 text itself. ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, lead section (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — the 23 categories, Columbia administration, the 1917 founding by will, the 15/8 split, three finalists, jury and board roles, and prize amounts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "History" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — the bequest of $250,000, the awards specified in the will, Pulitzer's death date, the first award date, and the *Chicago Tribune* boycott to 1961. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "Controversies" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — the 1921 trustee override, the 1941 no-award, the 1953 Hemingway prize, the 1957 *Profiles in Courage* authorship dispute, and the calls to revoke Duranty's 1932 prize. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "Board" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — board size, composition, terms, ex officio roles, the selection statement, and the succession of administrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "Criticism and studies" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — the Bozell and Parker statements and the 2012 Volz–Lee study figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^6]: History News Network, *The Prize That Taints the Pulitzers' Ethics and Honor* (undated in pack) — McGill's statement as an ex officio member of the 1977 board. https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/the-prize-that-taints-the-pulitzers-ethics-and-honor/ [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "Categories" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — journalism eligibility, the magazine exclusion and the 1966 National Magazine Awards, the 2007/2008 online rules, the 2015–2016 magazine admissions, and the 2017 breaking-news change. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Pulitzer Prize*, section "Entry and prize consideration" (revid 1378035538, retrieved 2026-10-28) — entry rules, nationality rules, jury numbers and sizes, voting thresholds, and pay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize [^9]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Stearns-042, from *RESEARCH_Fraud_Charter_Lewis.md* ¶32–33 (validated dossier; source domain listed as pulitzer.org; no pulitzer.org URL in the pack) — the "wholesome" ground for the 1921 override and Lewis's 1926 refusal and statements.