GROUNDBREAKING: Controversial pieces win recognition at the Pulitzer Prizes.
By Isabel Morehead, Staff Writer
Since 1917, the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to publications and individuals from twenty-one categories in journalism, literature, and musical composition. 2018 marked a historic year for the Pulitzer Prizes in other categories besides music, with multiple groundbreaking pieces being awarded on subjects such as sexual harassment, racism, and domestic terrorism. This year distinguished a monumental shift in public interest of social issues, which was reflected in the winners of the Pulitzer Prize. Among the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winners was the rapper Kendrick Lamar, the first rapper to ever receive this prize. In previous years, the prize for the music category had only been given to classical music composers.
When asked about the deliberation process for this year’s music selection, one of the jurors for the Pulitzer Prize said that when it came to deciding on Lamar for the prize, “..there was zero dissent.. A lively and constructive conversation, but no dissent.” and added, “It was a beautiful moment. I left the deliberations on a cloud.” By becoming the first rap artist to win the prize, Lamar broke down barriers preventing different forms of music from being recognized and definitively represents rap as a legitimate art form. As one of the record executives from Lamar’s label said, “no one should speak with anything less than respect in your mouth for Kendrick Lamar.”
Aside from Kendrick Lamar’s historic win, this year’s Pulitzers were monumental for the journalistic pieces that called attention to prominent social issues such as racism and sexual harassment. Since the recent flood of sexual harassment claims and the sparking of the #MeToo movement, more people are coming forward to detail their own experiences with harassment, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalistic pieces demonstrate how this year has changed public opinion when it comes to harassment of women. The winner of the Public Service category of the Pulitzer Prizes was the New York Times and the New Yorker for deep, impactful journalism that exposed wealthy, powerful sexual predators such as Harvey Weinstein. Another winner in the Investigative Reporting category was the Washington Post, for its purposeful reporting on Roy Moore’s past history of harassment of underage girls and the way this reporting changed the course of the Alabama Senate race. These stories, the recognition they’ve received, and the impact they’ve made on events in the recent years signifies that society has changed the way it views sexual harassment.
The past year has been fraught with controversy, with the massive upheaval of years’ worth of sexual assault allegations, the presidential campaign and following administration, and the fight for nationwide gun control in the wake of tragic mass shootings. These controversial topics were the subjects of many of the winning pieces of this year’s Pulitzer Prizes. In the explanatory reporting category, the staffs of the Arizona Republic and USA Today won the prize for their utilization of multiple mediums to examine from different perspectives, the consequences of fulfilling President Donald Trump’s pledge to build a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Staffs of the New York Times and the Washington Post won in the National Reporting category for exhaustively researched coverage of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential campaign and its ties to the Trump campaign. Freelance reporter Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah won the prize for feature writing for her portrait of the domestic terrorist Dylann Roof, who shot and murdered nine people in a South Carolina church. All of these pieces were so powerful and so well recognized because they reflect the controversial issues that deeply affected the U.S. this year.
2018 has been a year of turbulent social change, from sexual harassment claims finally being brought against powerful abusers, to the impactful gun control movement championed by the youth of America. This year has been a year of great change and controversy, which was reflected in the artistic and journalistic pieces that won Pulitzer Prizes.