The Pulitzer Prizes were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.
The 18-member Pulitzer Board is composed of leading journalists or news executives from media outlets across the U.S., as well as five academics or persons in the arts. The dean of Columbia’s journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are non-voting members. The chair rotates annually to the most senior member or members.
The 2024 Pulitzer Prize winners are:
Journalism
Public Service
Finalists:
KFF Health News and Cox Media Group
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of Lookout Santa Cruz, California
Finalists:
Staff of the Honolulu Civil Beat
Staff of the Los Angeles Times
Investigative Reporting
Hannah Dreier of The New York Times
Finalists:
Casey Ross and Bob Herman of STAT
Explanatory Reporting
Sarah Stillman of The New Yorker
Finalists:
Staffs of The Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and FRONTLINE
Local Reporting
Sarah Conway of City Bureau and Trina Reynolds-Tyler of the Invisible Institute
Finalists:
Staff of The Villages Daily Sun
National Reporting
Finalists:
Bianca Vázquez Toness and Sharon Lurye of Associated Press
Dave Philipps of The New York Times
International Reporting
Finalists:
Julie Turkewitz and Federico Rios of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Katie Engelhart, contributing writer, The New York Times
Finalists:
Jennifer Senior of The Atlantic
Keri Blakinger of The Marshall Project
Commentary
Vladimir Kara-Murza, contributor, The Washington Post
Finalists:
Brian Lyman of the Alabama Reflector
Jay Caspian Kang of The New Yorker
Criticism
Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times
Finalists:
Vinson Cunningham of The New Yorker
Zadie Smith, contributor, The New York Review of Books
Editorial Writing
David E. Hoffman of The Washington Post
Finalists:
Brandon McGinley and Rebecca Spiess of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Isadora Rangel of the Miami Herald
Illustrated Reporting and Commentary
Medar de la Cruz, contributor, The New Yorker
Finalists:
Angie Wang, contributor, The New Yorker
Claire Healy, Nicole Dungca and Ren Galeno, contributor, of The Washington Post
Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press
Breaking News Photography
Finalists:
Adem Altan of Agence France-Presse
Nicole S. Hester of The Tennessean
Feature Photography
Photography Staff of Associated Press
Finalists:
Hannah Reyes Morales, contributor, The New York Times
Nanna Heitmann, contributor, The New York Times
Audio Reporting
Staffs of the Invisible Institute and USG Audio
Finalists:
Dan Slepian and Preeti Varathan of NBC News
Books, Drama and Music
Fiction
“Night Watch,” by Jayne Anne Phillips (Knopf)
Finalists:
“Same Bed Different Dreams,” by Ed Park (Random House)
“Wednesday’s Child,” by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Drama
“Primary Trust,” by Eboni Booth
Finalists:
“Here There Are Blueberries,” by Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
“Public Obscenities,” by Shayok Misha Chowdhury
History
Finalists:
Biography
“King: A Life,” by Jonathan Eig (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Finalist:
“Larry McMurtry: A Life,” by Tracy Daugherty (St. Martin’s Press)
Memoir or Autobiography
“Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice,” by Cristina Rivera Garza (Hogarth)
Finalists:
“The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight,” by Andrew Leland (Penguin Press)
Poetry
“Tripas: Poems,” by Brandon Som (Georgia Review Books)
Finalists:
“Information Desk: An Epic,” by Robyn Schiff (Penguin Books)
“To 2040,” by Jorie Graham (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
Finalists:
“Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives,” by Siddharth Kara (St. Martin’s Press)
“Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World,” by John Vaillant (Knopf)
Music
“Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith),” by Tyshawn Sorey
Finalists:
“Double Concerto for esperanza spalding, Claire Chase, and large orchestra,” by Felipe Lara
“Paper Pianos,” by Mary Kouyoumdjian