A photographer and photo editor at The New York Times for 31 years, freelance journalist Jose R. Lopez has shot presidents, Super Bowls and the end of the Bosnian War. He also contributed to The Times's 2002 Breaking News and Feature Photography Prize-winning staff entries on the September 11 attacks and the war in Afghanistan.
Last spring, Lopez covered the stages of the Pulitzer Prize process, including jury meetings at Columbia University held prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he planned on documenting the Board meeting and Prize announcement, the Pulitzer office has augmented his work with screengrabs from the first Pulitzer Board meeting held remotely.
To judge the 2021 journalism competition, jurors will meet online due to the ongoing pandemic — their dedication and commitment come through as they login from around America to participate in this key juncture in the Pulitzer process.
Note: The deadline to enter journalistic work was January 25, 2021.
The Pulitzer World Room located inside the Columbia Journalism School, where the judging of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism took place on Feb. 19 and 20, 2020. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Dana Canedy, the Pulitzer Prize administrator, greeted and welcomed the journalists, editors, and authors who made the trip to Columbia University to judge the 2020 entries. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Jurors worked at tables that represented the 14 journalism categories. Six of those categories were judged here in the Pulitzer World room. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Bud Kliment, left, the deputy administrator for operations and Prize process, speaking with Robert Blau, a co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, during the morning session of the first day of judging. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
The cover of the laptop computer that belongs to Maria Carrillo, of the Tampa Bay Times, who was on the Feature Writing jury. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Lydia Polgreen, the former editor in chief of HuffPost, focuses on the content of an entry in the Commentary category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Susan Chira, editor-in-chief of The Marshall Project, gestures as she makes a point to her colleagues who were judging the International Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Bud Kliment confers with Dana Canedy during the first day’s session. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Ginger Thompson, a senior reporter at ProPublica, stresses her point to colleagues that were judging the Investigative Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
David Jackson, Chicago Tribune (left), and Jeanne Cummings, The Wall Street Journal (right), listening to Kevin G. Riley (back to camera), editor-in-chief of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the chair in the National Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
David Von Drehle, a Washington Post columnist, listens intently to a fellow juror judging the Criticism category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Alix M. Freedman, of Reuters, the chair of the Investigative Reporting jury, adjusts her glasses as she and her fellow jurors go through the entries. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Mary Schmich, of the Chicago Tribune and the chair to the Feature Writing jury, found a place to be alone as she read through the entries. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Dana Canedy answers questions from the Local Reporting jury. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Mark Russell, left, editor of The Commercial Appeal and chair of the Commentary Jury, speaking to colleague and fellow juror Brent Staples of The New York Times. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Andrea Valdez, left, of The Texas Observer, and Sewell Chan, of The Los Angeles Times, working through the entries in the Local Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Darcy Eveleigh, left, with fellow juror Robert Cohen, as they studied the entries in the Breaking News and Feature Photography categories. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
The inaugural jurors for the Audio Reporting category met in the Sulzberger Conference Room on the building's seventh floor. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Jim Schachter, of New Hampshire Public Radio, expressing his opinions with his colleagues. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Sewell Chan, of the Los Angeles Times, speaking with his colleague, Scott Kraft, the chair to the International Reporting jury, at the end of the first day of judging. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Brant Houston, from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, confers with fellow juror Ginger Thompson as they judge the Investigative Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Daniel Berehulak, a freelance photographer, makes his point to fellow juror and chair of the Breaking News and Feature Photography category, Marcia L. Allert of The Dallas Morning News. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Left to right, Marcia L. Allert (The Dallas Morning News), Daniel Berehulak (freelance photographer), J. David Ake (Associated Press), Darcy Eveleigh (freelance photo editor) and Robert Cohen (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) read over their recommendations in the Breaking News and Feature Photography categories. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Mi-Ai Parrish, of Arizona State University, left, with fellow juror David Kocieniewski (Bloomberg News), as they review the entries in the Investigative Reporting category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Left to right; Anne Fulenwider (formerly of Marie Claire), Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune) and Maria Carrillo (Tampa Bay Times) review the language of the Feature Writing jury report. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Jennifer Preston (Knight Foundation) drafts a jury report. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Alix M. Freedman reviews the Investigative Reporting jury report. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Scott Kraft puts the final touches on the jury report as the second day of judging comes to an end. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Author and journalist Mark Whitaker seeks advice from Dana Canedy as Bud Kliment looks on. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Music Secretary Terry Pender (back to camera) watches as members of the jury (clockwise: David Bloom, Bill Banfield, William Trafka, Kevin Puts and Jon Batiste) sight-read a score accompanying a recording. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
A score of music that the jurors used to follow during the judging of the Music category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Jon Batiste closes his eyes as he listens intently to the piece being played. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Naveen Kumar making his point to his fellow jurors during the judging in the Drama category. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
Jan Simpson (left; CUNY Craig Newmark School of Journalism) expresses her opinions during the judging of the Drama category as Alisa Solomon, professor of journalism at Columbia University, listens. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)
The Pulitzer Board meeting was conducted digitally for the first time in history. Katherine Boo makes a point as fellow members and staff look on. (Sean Murphy/The Pulitzer Prizes)
Board member Tommie Shelby, a Harvard University philosopher, speaks. (Sean Murphy/Columbia University)
Board member Emily Ramshaw, chief executive of The 19th, reflects on an entry. (Sean Murphy/Columbia University)
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger excogitates. The president serves as a member of the Board for the duration of his or her term. (Sean Murphy/Pulitzer Prizes)
Board member John Daniszewski, vice president and editor-at-large for standards at the Associated Press, smiles. (Sean Murphy/Pulitzer Prizes)
A cocktail named "The Pulitzer." A drink served chilled and made with 1/2 oz of St. Germaine, Prosecco and a lemon twist. (Credit: Copyright Pulitzer Prizes/Jose R. Lopez)