It is the most sought after prize and professional goal for most writers in any given category, the Pulitzer. Named for the man who defined writing excellence in America, Joseph Pulitzer, the Pulitzer Prize rewards excellency in twenty one categories, which has nearly doubled from the original recommended thirteen. It was in his will, written in 1904, that Joseph Pulitzer secured a system that would be put into place to ensure the continuance of the high standards he had set. There would be a board responsible for issuing prizes for works that deserved recognition in the following categories: the American novel, an original American play performed in New York, a book on the history of the United States, an American biography, and a history of public service by the press. Fortunately, Pulitzer had the foresight to allow for changes to be made; to make a provision for the board to have “power in its discretion to suspend or to change any subject or subjects, substituting, however, others in their places, if in the judgment of the board such suspension, changes, or substitutions shall be conducive to the public good or rendered advisable by public necessities, or by reason of change of time.” Also, true to form, Pulitzer gave the board authority to choose not to issue an award in any category where nominated pieces fell below standard. This has taken place on many occasions. Joseph Pulitzer is also responsible for the requirement of a University level education for journalism, the first to be founded being the Columbia School of Journalism, which houses the administration of the Pulitzer Prize Board. Before his time, journalists were often uneducated and not trained. In reference to his idea of establishing a school for journalists, Pulitzer said, “I am deeply interested in the progress and elevation of journalism, having spent my life in that profession, regarding it as a noble profession and one of unequaled importance for its influence upon the minds and morals of the people. I desire to assist in attracting to this profession young men of character and ability, also to help those already engaged in the profession to acquire the highest moral and intellectual training.”
Relevance
Joseph was born in Hungary in 1847. The family was well to do, his father of Magyr-Jewish descent and his mother a German Catholic. It was his desire to be a soldier that brought Joseph to the United States, after being rejected by both the Austrian and British armies due to his poor eyesight and health. He enlisted as a substitute for a draftee for the U.S. Union army, which was permitted by the Civil War draft system. When he reached America, he enlisted for one year in the Lincoln Calvary, a unit with many other German speaking soldiers, which suited him, as he spoke very little English, but was fluent in German, French and Hungarian. Eventually, he made his way to St. Louis and began to work odd jobs there. He spent much time at the Mercantile Library to study English and Law, and this happens to be the place where he got his start in the field of journalism, when he was offered a job at the German daily newspaper Westliche Post, by two of the paper’s editors that he offered chess critique to while watching a game in the library’s chess room. He was said to have been a “born reporter”. During these first few years in the profession, Pulitzer discovered his passion for politics, which he would be fascinated with for life. It was in 1869 that he competed in a special election and won, as a Republican, a seat in the lower house of the Missouri state legislature. He began to fight corruption in city government. A memorable account took place one day when a lobbyist, Captain Edward Augustine, disagreed with Pulitzer and publicly called him a “damned liar”. Pulitzer made a short ten minute trip back to his room not far away, and returned with a pistol. Augustine charged Pulitzer as he fired two shots, one missing, and one hitting Augustine in the leg. Pulitzer received a large gash in the head, from which he claimed came from a clubbing in the head with a gun. Although guns were common and legal at the time, Pulitzer lost popularity in the legislature, but only had to pay a $100 fine for the incident and pay $300 to the courts. He continued his work with the Westlich Post, and within a mere four years, by 1872, Pulitzer had built a reputation for himself as a journalist and became part owner of the paper, as the owners were going bankrupt. (Later he sold the paper back to the original owner, earning a $30,000 profit.) By the age of 25 he was a publisher, and in 1878 he was the owner of the St. Louis Dispatch, which he had acquired in a similar manner; it was a failing daily that he purchased for a mere $3,000 through a silent bidder at an auction. Later, the paper would flourish, and he would earn a fortune at a young age.
By the time he had acquired the St. Louis Dispatch, Joseph had become a new man; no longer was he the little Hungarian immigrant kid working odd jobs in the slums of St. Louis. He had mastered English and was well spoken and written, and a well known editor. He was well dressed and polished and had become a part of St. Louis social elite, and early in the year of 1878, before becoming owner of the St. Louis Dispatch, he was married to Kate Davis, a well known woman from Washington. (And also a niece of Jefferson Davis.) However, his presence at social functions subsided almost immediately after becoming owner of the paper. His time was now spent, from early morning to very late in the evening, at his desk, intensely preoccupied with every last detail of the paper. He became most interested in the investigative reports that he filled the paper with, and editorials exposing corrupt politicians or prominent social figures. His style appealed to the public greatly, and the paper prospered and circulation increased greatly.
Unfortunately, Pulitzer was still suffering poor health and had doctor’s orders in 1883 to vacation in Europe. He and Kate headed for New York to do just that, but stubbornly, and typical of Pulitzer’s character, instead of boarding the steamer there, he met with Jay Gould, the financier of The New York World and negotiated it’s purchase. He moved the family to New York and engrossed himself with The World. He used many of the same techniques that increased subscriptions to the Post-Dispatch, again, a crusader against political corruption; he was the first to broaden the use of illustration. He found many other tactics useful in expanding circulation of The World; he created a paper for the masses, one that would appeal to middle and lower class citizens: immigrants, working men and women, those who were less educated. In the 1890s The World, after the urgings of it’s owner, created a page exclusively for news in sports, which was an instant success, and also a page specifically to contain women’s news, such as fashion, morality, and the women’s movement. The World did not, however, urge women to take part in feminism and the women’s movement, but instead just reported news in regard to the matter.
Pulitzer also found it necessary to reorganize the appearance of the front page. It was he who had the visionary insight to develop a paper with illustrations (because readers responded to “eye candy”) and other graphic elements, a new Oxford style typeset, and a format for the columns. It was realized that people did not read newspapers in the same manner in which a book was read and the lead story was placed in the upper right hand side of the front page. The significant stories would no longer have their headlines stacked one on top of the other on top of the text. It was also concluded that the price of the paper needed to be decreased to compete with Hearst’s Journal. The lost revenue was made up by increasing advertising. These changes were adopted by many other papers.
Social Implications
Pulitzer’s competition with Hearst is rumored to be one cause of the war with the Spanish. By the time Hearst came to New York to run The Journal, Pulitzer’s The World was already thriving. Along with luring away some of Pulitzer’s top journalists and hiring famous artists, cartoonists, and writers, Hearst began to copy a form of journalism that he found to be partially responsible for Pulitzer’s success: sensational reporting. At a time of high patriotism in American, both publishers found the pending war with Spain perfect subject matter. Hearst insisted on editing all related stories himself, and Pulitzer instructed his journalists to embellish on the stories of what was going on with Cuba, the mistreatment of Cubans by Spain. Both tried to outdo the other with sensational stories and headlines. When the U.S. Battleship Maine blew up and sank in Havana Harbor in February of 1898, both papers rallied for war with Spain, to which Congress reacted to with just that. After the war which lasted only four months, Pulitzer discontinued using the method that became known as “yellow journalism”. Luckily, he is recognized more for his positive achievements he made in the way of public service. In the controversial presidential election of 1884 between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine, Pulitzer is said to have turned the election by exposing a mistake made by Blaine. While in Congress in the 1870s, Blaine had received thousands of dollars from a railroad company, one which he supervised regulation of. Blaine dodged prosecution for the grant by securing documents from his secretary, who later, during the election, surrendered some of the documents Blaine failed to obtain. One of the documents read, “Burn this letter”. Until this scandal was exposed about Blaine, Cleveland was losing the election because he had conceived an illegitimate child. Both of Pulitzer’s papers appealed to primarily those who supported the Democratic party. (Later, in a note Pulitzer received from Edward K. Bettle from St. Louis, congratulating him in aiding in Cleveland’s election, as a joke at the bottom of the note he wrote, “Burn this letter.”)
Pulitzer also is credited with aiding the passage of antitrust legislation and in regulating the insurance industry. In 1909, he exposed a fraudulent payment of $40 million from the United States to the French Panama Canal Company. The angered government brought charges up against Pulitzer for public libeling against President Theodore Roosevelt and banker J.P. Morgan, and others. When the charges were dismissed by the courts, Pulitzer received great praise and a victory for the freedom of the press. In 1904, when writing a proposal for the founding of a school of journalism, in The North American Review, Pulitzer wrote, “”Our Republic and its press will rise or fall together. An able, disinterested, public-spirited press, with trained intelligence to know the right and courage to do it, can preserve that public virtue without which popular government is a sham and a mockery. A cynical, mercenary, demagogic press will produce in time a people as base as itself. The power to mould the future of the Republic will be in the hands of the journalists of future generations.” In 1912, a year after he passed away, the Columbia School of Journalism came to be. The first of the Pulitzer prizes were awarded in 1917. Today, there are normally 21 prizes given in various categories, out of about 2000 annual submissions for consideration. The board has grown less conservative in more recent years. In times past any material that contained any obscenities, or was questionable in nature would not be considered. For instance, Hemmingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls was denied a prize, but he was awarded a prize for The Old Man and the Sea, a lesser work. In 1993, the award for a play went to Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, by Tony Kushner. The play deals with homosexuality and AIDS and contains high sexual content and obscenities. However, rightfully so, the Pulitzer is awarded to works of high quality writing and thought provoking content. The prizes are announced each April and issued by the President of the University of Columbia in a modest ceremony at the Low Library.
Sources
www.pulitzer.org
Joseph Pulitzer and His Prize. John Therkelsen.
May 1996. Drew U. [2-18-03]
http://www.onlineconcepts.com/pulitzer/.
The Sensational Beginnings of Yellow Journalism
http://alt.tnt.tv/movies/tntoriginals/roughriders/jour.home.html
Hearst vs. Pulitzer — The Newspaper War Headline: “The Big Type War of the Yellow Kids”
http://alt.tnt.tv/movies/tntoriginals/roughriders/jour.publishwar.html
