Guild Members a Force to Be Reckoned With on Pulitzer Day

Janelle Hartman
NewsGuild-CWA

THE now world-renowned photojournalists at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the gifted Buffalo News editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis and a New York Times reporter, Eric Lipton, who would have made Heywood Broun proud, are among the Guild winners who, as of Monday afternoon, are also Pulitzer Prize winners.

They are joined by scores of Guild members whose newsrooms won Pulitzers for their collective work in the areas of breaking news (The Seattle Times staff); investigative reporting (The Wall Street Journal staff); and international reporting (The New York Times staff). 

In addition to the top awards, individual Guild members and Guild-represented staffs accounted for more than half of the finalists, two in each of the 14 Pulitzer categories.

“Once again, we are thrilled – but not at all surprised – to see that so many dedicated and talented Guild members have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize,” NewsGuild-CWA President Bernie Lunzer said.

Lunzer said that hearing about the Pulitzer winners and having the privilege to give one of journalism’s other top honors, the Heywood Broun Award, named for the Guild’s founder, have become especially powerful moments in recent years.

“Our industry’s massive upheaval has cost thousands of jobs in journalism and hundreds of thousands of years of collective experience,” he said. “We may not have investigative journalism and other kinds of reporting in the quantity that we should have – how many vital stories aren’t being told? – but the Pulitzers, the Broun Award and other honors prove that first-rate, profoundly important journalism is still getting done.”

NewsGuild members and represented staffs won 2015 Pulitzers in these categories, as reported on the Pulitzer website, and in the order reported:

BREAKING NEWS REPORTING

The Seattle Times staff won “for its digital account of a landslide that killed 43 people and the impressive follow-up reporting that explored whether the calamity could have been avoided.”

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

The top award was a tie – between Guild members. Eric Lipton of The New York Times won for “reporting that showed how the influence of lobbyists can sway congressional leaders and state attorneys general, slanting justice toward the wealthy and connected.”

The Wall Street Journal staff won for “Medicare Unmasked,” a “pioneering project that gave Americans unprecedented access to previously confidential data on the motivations and practices of their health care providers.”

INTERNATIONAL REPORTING
The New York Times Staff won for “courageous front-line reporting and vivid human stories on Ebola in Africa, engaging the public with the scope and details of the outbreak while holding authorities accountable.”

EDITORIAL CARTOONING

Buffalo News editorial cartoonist Adam Zyglis won for “using strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in a few words.”

BREAKING NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch photography staff won for “powerful images of the despair and anger in Ferguson, MO, stunning photojournalism that served the community while informing the country.