Pulitzers Awarded, State of the Art is Healthy

"The Media" uttered with just the right exasperated sigh has become a curse word of some prominence and potency. And in the recent Terry Schiavo story, the over-coverage of the death of John Paul II, and their willful neglect of the pre-war lies and misrepresentations by the White House, they have not distinguished themselves. However, it is often best to judge not the average professional but the extraordinary one to determine the state of an occupation. The 2005 Pulitzer Prize winners suggests things are just fine, if one can boost the signal and tune out the noise.

The staff at the Star-Ledger in New Jersey gets the biggest round of applause here. Its coverage of Governor McGreevey's bizarre resignation avoided a lot of the emotional drivel and focused on the facts. The Los Angeles Times work in uncovering "medical problems and racial injustice" at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center may have saved lives. And while that paper's Kim Murphy earned a share of the international prize for her work on Russia, Dele Olojede's Rwanda ten years after should be required reading and brought no small honor to Long Island's Newsday.

What is interesting about this year's crop of prize winners is their diversity. Yes, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times won something, but so did Willamette Week of Portland Oregon (Nigel Jaquiss exposed the former governor's "concealed sexual misconduct with a 14-year-old girl"). While the blue states were home to most of the winners, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Kentucky and the often underestimated Cleveland Plain Dealer represented the red states. When individual reporters, rather than the staff, received recognition there were 7 men and 5 women -- equal enough to be respectable without feeling patronizing.

Apart from the journalists, other men and women of letters, drama and music won the less-often reported Pulitzers. In particular, John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, a parable is a meditation worthy of note. The play pits an authoritarian nun against a popular parish priest who may or may not have having an improper relationship with a 12-year-old boy. The play falls from the headlines, but the writing is the best part. And it is worth a trip to New York for a seat at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Unfortunately, the Pulitzers only recognize print journalists. As the entry form says the prizes are awarded "for material in United States newspaper published daily, Sunday or at least, one a week during the year." Of course, there are other reasons why Fox News wasn't nominated beyond that technicality. After all, someone has to bring the average down from the lofty levels of the prize winners.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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