2024 Pulitzer Prizes for journalism:
What makes a piece worthy of a Pulitzer Prize?
Directions:
2024 Pulitzer Prize Journalism winners website (The Pulitzer Prizes).
Resource Connection Tip: Complete the ”Democracy’s Watchdog” Checkology®
lesson for relevant insights.
“Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together.” — Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher and journalist What do you think this quote means? | ||
Background: The Pulitzer Prizes are a series of awards given by Columbia University for excellence in journalism, letters, drama and music, and special citations. Established by Joseph Pulitzer, the prizes have been awarded to journalists every year since 1917. They are considered the most prestigious awards in American journalism. The number of prizes and categories have changed over the years. In 2024, there were 16 prizes for journalism; nine prizes in books, drama and music; and two prizes for special citations. In your own words, what is the Pulitzer Prize? | ||
What kind of journalism do you think should win a Pulitzer Prize? |
PART A: Before looking at this year’s winners
Dig Deeper
May 13, 2024
NAME:
DATE:
Look through the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners list. Choose a journalism category you would like to explore. Write it below. | ||||
What does this category honor? What kind of piece would win this award? | ||||
Which organization(s) won the Pulitzer Prize for this category in 2024? | Why did the judges say it won? | |||
Choose either a 2024 winner or finalist from this category you’d like to examine. Write its name below. (If the piece you chose is a single item, examine the entire piece. If it is a series of items, choose one, a few, or all of them to examine.) | ||||
PART B: Exploring the 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners
PART C: Pulitzer Prize close examination
Find examples from the winning work that fit what this category honors (what you wrote in Part B). Quote or summarize them below. (continue on the next page) |
Continue adding examples below — quotes or summaries — from the Pulitzer Prize-winning work that fits the category you selected in Part B. Quote or summarize them below. | ||||
What is the central idea of this piece? | Which details that you already quoted or summarized support this central idea? | |||
What stands out to you in this work? | What questions do you have about this work? | |||
Summarize this work and its impact. What changes do you think came about as a result of it? Whose interests did it protect? What long-term changes might it lead to? If this journalism didn’t exist, whose lives might be impacted? |
Conclusion: Use “CSQT” to explain why you think this piece of journalism was honored with a Pulitzer Prize. Use details from all parts of this think sheet in your response.
C=Claim state your opinion
S=Setup introduce your quote(s), tell how it fits in the text
Q=Quote share a quote(s) that illustrates your opinion
T=Tie-in tell the reader how your quote(s) shows your opinion is right
Extend: Connect with classmates who have also read Pulitzer Prize-winning work. Share your conclusions and compare and contrast how the pieces are alike and different. Vote on which piece you think potentially has the biggest impact.
The Sift DIG DEEPER resource was inspired from a worksheet created by educator Ellie Strand.
It is intended to be copied and modified for classroom use. If you make any changes, please add, “This resource was adapted from the News Literacy Project.”