Following yesterday's Pulitzer Prize awards ceremony and luncheon at Columia University, a number of news outlets delved into the backstories of the winners, celebrated the uplifting performance of Amazing Grace by Jennifer Hudson and touched on the advocacy efforts of student journalists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who were in attendance. Below is a roundup of the media coverage. Please check back for updates:
- USA Today homed in on the theme of gun violence across the prize categories — including the Special Citation to the Capital Gazette, the Public Service price to the South Florida Sun Sentinel for its coverage of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (and the student journalists they sponsored to join them at the ceremony) and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette's Breaking News prize for a shooting at Tree of Life Synogogue.
- The entertainment press devoted coverage to Jennifer Hudson's performance, with Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, USA Today and others picking up on the singer's generous tribute to both Special Citation winner Aretha Franklin as well as the victims of gun violence in the room.
- NBC Nightly News covered the journey of student journalists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School newspaper, the Eagle Eye, who were recognized by Prize Administrator Dana Canedy both during the April announcement of the winners, and during the luncheon.
- Good Morning America got the scoop on Jennifer Hudson's 13-hour bus ride to New York to get to the ceremony when her flight from Chicago was cancelled. "It's like Aretha's spirit, because she didn't believe in flying, she would drive. And look at me, I'm driving, taking a road trip," Hudson said.
- The Root also covered Hudson's long road to the awards ceremony — following a late airline cancellation, she drove through the night from Chicago to New York to sing Amazing Grace before the crowd in honor of Aretha Franklin's Special Citation. “I drove all night to get here,” Hudson told reporter Danielle Belkin. “It blew my mind....To be a representation and also be there to witness such a thing, it’s a lot. But I do not take it lightly. I respect it." Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy added: "My hope was that the musical part of this presentation would be uplifting and healing for people who were suffering but also in the midst of their suffering were doing unbelievable work in support of journalism."
- The Capital Gazette shared poignant details of its trip to New York to receive a Special Citation. A gunman opened fire in the paper's newsroom, killing five members of the staff — the largest killing of journalists in U.S. history. “My mom used to say that nobody worked at The Capital to get a Pulitzer. So, it’s ironic, almost cruel, that the paper is being recognized for this honor, which is a great honor and is amazing, especially the grant to the paper. But part of the reason for that is my mother’s death and the death of four other people,” said Winters Geimer, daughter of Wendi Winters who died in the attack.
- Reuters posted video of two members of its International Reporting prize-winning team, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who served 511 days of a seven-year prison sentence for their journalistic work. The two were freed just in time to travel to New York and accept their prize with their colleagues.
- Columbia Journalism Review noted those freed reporters' reaction to Hudson's performance: “She was great,” Wa Lone said.