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Emily Ramshaw
New York, N.Y. (Sept. 22, 2016) – Emily Ramshaw, the editor-in-chief of The Texas Tribune, a digital news organization, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board, Columbia University announced today.
Under Ramshaw’s leadership, the Tribune produces politics and policy news, data and events statewide, and operates the largest statehouse reporting bureau in the nation. In addition to the Tribune’s original reporting and investigative projects, Ramshaw oversees audience and technology initiatives, premium newsletter products and TribTalk, a partner op-ed site.
Billed as “one of the nonprofit news sector’s runaway success stories,” the site has won nine national Edward R. Murrow Awards and nine honors from the Online News Association. It has also been recognized for innovation in investigative reporting.
By way of its free syndication model, the Tribune has filled the pages of Texas newspapers, broadcast on TV and radio airwaves statewide, and provided Texas-specific reporting for both The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Before joining the Tribune in 2010 as one of its founding reporters, Ramshaw, 35, spent six years at The Dallas Morning News, where she broke national stories about sexual abuse inside Texas’s youth lock-ups, reported from inside a West Texas polygamist compound, and uncovered “fight clubs” inside state institutions for people with disabilities. The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors named Ramshaw its 2009 star reporter of the year.
A native of Washington, D.C., and the daughter of two journalists, Ramshaw graduated from Northwestern University in 2003 with dual degrees in journalism and American history. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband David Hartstein, an Emmy Award-winning film producer, and a baby girl, Sophie.
”Emily will be a strong addition to the Pulitzer board,” said Keven Ann Willey, co-chair of the board and editorial page editor and vice president of The Dallas Morning News. “In addition to being an outstanding journalist in the traditional sense, she’s a new media leader from a company with a non-traditional business plan. Her skills and perspectives are special assets in this digital age.”
Digital news-sites have been eligible for Pulitzer Prizes for several years, and the board recently began opening the competition to magazines and their websites.
The 19-member board chooses the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, books, drama and music each April. The board elected Ramshaw to a three-year term. Board members serve a maximum of nine years.
The Pulitzer Prizes, which are administered at Columbia University, 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 19-member board is composed mainly 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 nonvoting members. The chair rotates annually to the most senior member or members. The board is self-perpetuating in the election of members. Voting members may serve three terms of three years for a total of nine years.