THIS IS AMERICA
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April 22, 2002: Pulitzer Prizes
By Jerilyn Watson
19 Apr 2002, 16:45 UTC
VOICE ONE:
Every year, Pulitzer Prizes are given for the best newspaper reporting, books, drama, poetry and music in the
United States. These awards for excellence were announced earlier this month. I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. We tell about the Pulitzer Prize winners in our report today on the VOA Special English
program, THIS IS AMERICA.
((THEME)
)
VOICE ONE:
Columbia University in New York City has awarded Pulitzer Prizes every year since Nineteen-Seventeen. The
newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer established the prize. Mister Pulitzer was born in Hungary in Eighteen-
Forty-Seven. He moved to the United States and settled in Saint Louis, Missouri. He became a newspaper
reporter.
Then he began buying newspaper companies. In Eighteen-Eighty-Three, Joseph
Pulitzer bought the New York World. He soon changed it into one of the most
important newspapers in the United States. It sold more copies than any other
newspaper in the country.
Mister Pulitzer became very rich. He left two-million dollars to Columbia
University when he died in Nineteen-Eleven. Part of the money was to establish a graduate school of journalism
to train reporters. The rest of the money was to be used as prizes for the best writing in the United States.
This year, Columbia University gave fourteen awards to newspapers and reporters for excellence in journalism
during Two -Thousand -One. The judges also honored seven people for their work in the arts --for books, a play,
poetry and music.
VOICE TWO:
The most important news event last year happened on September eleventh. On that day, Islamic militants
attacked the United States. They crashed hijacked airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York City and
the Defense Department headquarters near Washington, D.C. Passengers on another hijacked plane apparently
crashed the plane to prevent more destruction. The attacks killed about three-thousand people.
Eight of the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to newspapers were for stories about the terrorist attacks and events that
followed. Pulitzer officials said no other news event was ever so widely represented in the competition. Unlike
other years, all the journalism winners were major newspapers.
VOICE ONE: The New York Times won a record seven Pulitzer Prizes for its work last year. In the past, no
newspaper has received more than three of these awards in the same year. Six of the seven awards involved the
attacks and the United States-led war on terrorism in Afghanistan. For example, New York Times writers won
the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory writing. Their winning stories told about terrorists and their activities around
the world.
The New York Times also won the public service award. The prize honored a part of the newspaper called “A
Nation Challenged.
”
These pages told what happened after the attacks. Every day, the section contained a full
page with short stories about the people who died in the attacks. “A Nation Challenged”
also reported the
progress of the war on terrorism.
Barry Bearak of the New York Times won the international reporting prize. He was honored for his stories about
conditions and life in Afghanistan.New York Times writer Thomas L. Friedman won the Pulitzer Prize for
commentary --reports that express opinion. Mister Friedman wrote about the effects of the terrorist threat on the
world. Mister Friedman won two earlier Pulitzer Prizes for his international reporting from the Middle East.
VOICE TWO:
Pictures in the New York Times also received awards. Its photographers won the Pulitzer Prize for pictures of
news events in progress. The winning pictures showed how the destruction of the World Trade Center affected
New York City. Pulitzer Prize judges also honored New York Times photographers for feature pictures of people
in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The judges said the winning pictures showed the people ’s suffering and their
strength.
New York Times writer Gretchen Morgenson won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting a very different subject. She
was honored for her business reporting. She told about stock market experts who advise investors. Mizz
Morgenson showed that some of these experts do not provide complete and honest information to investors.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times each won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism. Bob Woodward
and seven other Washington Post writers won the national reporting prize. Their stories explored the war on
terrorism.
Three other Washington Post reporters shared a Pulitzer Prize. Scott Higham, Sari Horwitz and Sarah Cohen
were honored for investigative reporting. They wrote about the deaths of two-hundred-twenty-nine children in the
District of Columbia. The children were under the legal protection of the city when they died. The reporters
showed how courts and social agencies failed to protect these children.
Barry Siegel of the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The Pulitzer judges praised his
reporting about a man found guilty of carelessness that led to the death of his son. The man killed himself. Mister
Siegel also wrote about the judge in the case.
Editorials express a newspaper’s opinions on issues. Two Los Angeles Times writers, Alex Raksin and Bob
Sipchen, wrote prize-winning editorials. They told about the problems facing mentally sick people who are
homeless and live on the streets.
VOICE TWO:
The Wall Street Journal won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting events as they are happening. Its award-winning
story told about the destruction of the World Trade Center. The attack also damaged the offices of the Wall Street
Journal across the street. Reporters had to write about the events from a temporary headquarters. The newspaper
still has not returned to its offices.
A cartoonist from the Christian Science Monitor in Boston, Massachusetts, won the Pulitzer Prize for political
cartooning. Twenty drawings by Clay Bennett won for their social comment. For example, one drawing protests
the heightened security measures that followed the terrorist attacks.
Justin Davidson of Newsday in New York won the criticism prize. He was honored for his comments about ten
classical music events. They included Metropolitan Opera productions and a New York Philharmonic Orchestra
concert. The concert was held to gain money for the families of victims of the World Trade Center attack.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Columbia University also gave Pulitzer Prizes to honor a play, poetry, books, and music. Suzan -Lori Parks
became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama. Her play, “Topdog/Underdog
”
,
is about the tense yet loving relationship between two African American brothers who live together.Carl Dennis
won the poetry award for “Practical Gods.
”
Mister Dennis is a professor at the State University of New York
in Buffalo. Critics have praised his work as wise and often deeply emotional.
David McCullough won the Pulitzer Prize for biography, the story of a person ’s life. His book, ”John
Adams”, tells about America’s second president. It describes the marriage of John and Abigail Adams. It also
tells about Mister Adams’s great skills as a diplomat.
VOICE TWO:
Louis Menand won the Pulitzer Prize for history. His book is called “The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas
in America.
”
It tells about several young people in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who met to discuss their ideas in
Eighteen-Seventy-Two. The group did not last long. But it established beliefs that guided Americans in the early
Twentieth Century.
A book by Richard Russo called “Empire Falls”
won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It is about a single father
who operates an eating place in a town in Maine that used to have several factories. The town represents the
hopes of its citizens.
Diane McWhorter won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. Her book tells about the civil rights movement in
one city in the American South. It is called “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of
the Civil Rights Revolution.
”
Henry Brant won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his composition, “Ice Field.
”
Mister Brant is a creator of
Twentieth Century spatial music. In spatial music, performers are placed in different areas in the theater. The
work was performed for the first time by the San Francisco Symphony last December.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Jerilyn Watson. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA
Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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