Joseph Pulitzer stood out as great American journalist.
Hungarian-born, Pulitzer was the most skillful of newspaper
publishers.
Pulitzer's
Flexible Will
In writing his 1904 will, which made provision for
the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive
to excellence, Pulitzer specified solely four awards
in journalism, four in letters and drama, one for
education, and five traveling scholarships. Initally,
three of the scholarships were awarded. Currently,
five scholarships of $7,500 are awarded to graduating
students from the School of Journalism.
Announcements
The formal announcement of the prizes, made each April,
states that the awards are made by the president of
Columbia University on the recommendation of the Pulitzer
Prize board. This formulation is derived from the
Pulitzer will, which established Columbia as the seat
of the administration of the prizes. Today, in fact,
the independent board makes all the decisions relative
to the prizes. In his will Pulitzer bestowed an endowment
on Columbia of $2,000,000 for the establishment of
a School of Journalism, one-fourth of which was to
be "applied to prizes or scholarships for the
encouragement of public service, public morals, American
literature, and the advancement of education."
Pulitzer's
Gold
Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to
the American news organization that wins the Public
Service category. It is never awarded to an individual.
The medal, about two and three-quarter inches in diameter
and a quarter-inch thick, is not solid gold. It is
silver with 24-carat gold plate and presented to the
winning newspaper in an elegant cherry-wood box with
brass hardware.
Winners are only from US or
frim any country, island ?
Only
U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for the Prizes
in Books, Drama and Music
Exception is History category. The book must be a
history of the United States but the author may be
of any nationality.
Permanent residents are ineligible.
For the Journalism competition, entrants may be of
any nationality but work must have appeared in U.S.
newspaper, magazine or news site that publishes regularly.
|