Pulitzer Prize for Commentary

Template:Short description Template:Pulitzer The Pulitzer Prize for Commentary is an award administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism "for distinguished commentary, using any available journalistic tool".<ref name=prize/> It is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been presented since Template:Start date and age. Finalists have been announced from 1980, ordinarily with two others beside the winner.<ref name=prize/>

Winners and citations

The Commentary Pulitzer has been awarded to one person annually without exception—45 prizes in 44 years 1970–2014. No person has won it twice.<ref name=prize/>

Year	Name(s)	Publication	Rationale
1970	Template:Sortname	St. Louis Post-Dispatch	"for distinguished commentary during 1969."
1971	Template:Sortname	The Record	"for his commentary in his daily column."
1972	Template:Sortname	Chicago Daily News	"for his columns during 1971."
1973	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his columns during 1972."
1974	Template:Sortname	National Observer	"for his commentary on public affairs during 1973."
1975	Template:Sortname	The Washington Star	"for her commentary on public affairs during 1974."
1976	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his commentary on sports in 1975 and for many other years."
1977	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for distinguished commentary on a variety of topics."
1978	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for commentary on the Bert Lance affair."
1979	Template:Sortname	The New York Times
1980	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe
	Template:Sortname	Universal Press Syndicate
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Sun-Times
1981	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his commentary on sports."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times
1982	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post
1983	Template:Sortname	The News and Observer
	Template:Sortname	The Richmond News Leader
	Template:Sortname	The Binghamton Evening Press
1984	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal
	Template:Sortname	Dayton Daily News
	Template:Sortname	The Philadelphia Inquirer
1985	Template:Sortname	Newsday	"for witty and insightful reflection on public issues in 1984 and throughout a distinguished career."
	Template:Sortname	Dallas Times Herald
	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe
1986	Template:Sortname	New York Daily News	"for columns which consistently champion ordinary citizens."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for incisive and thoughtful commentary on a wide range of public issues throughout a long and distinguished career."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his gracefully written and clear commentary on a variety of issues."
1987	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his witty and insightful columns on national issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his eloquent columns on social and political issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Gazette	"for his compelling commentary on national events."
1988	Template:Sortname	Miami Herald	"for his consistently effective use of humor as a device for presenting fresh insights into serious concerns."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for thoughtful commentary on the sports scene."
	Template:Sortname	Dallas Times Herald	"for her witty columns on a variety of social and political issues."
	Template:Sortname	United Feature Syndicate	"for his incisive commentary on a wide range of political topics."
1989	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for his provocative columns on local and national affairs."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his clear and controlled commentary on social and political topics."
	Template:Sortname	United Feature Syndicate	"for informed commentary on a variety of national issues."
1990	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for his sports columns."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his columns on national issues."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his columns about television."
1991	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for searching and prescient columns on events leading up to the Gulf War and on the political problems of Mikhail Gorbachev."
	Template:Sortname	The Commercial Appeal	"for her insightful columns on a variety of topics."
	Template:Sortname	The Providence Journal	"for his gracefully written columns about national and international events."
	Template:Sortname	St. Louis Post-Dispatch	"for his thoughtful columns on local and national subjects."
1992	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for her compelling columns on a wide range of personal and political topics."
	Template:Sortname	Miami Herald	"for her columns about local Cuban-Americans and the issues affecting the immigrant community."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his insightful commentary on the world of sports."
1993	Template:Sortname	Miami Herald	"for her commentary from Haiti about deteriorating political and social conditions and her columns about Cuban-Americans in Miami."
	Template:Sortname	The Detroit News	"for her columns about the problems and promise of urban America."
	Template:Sortname	The Orange County Register	"for his impressionistic accounts of his South Central Los Angeles neighborhood before and after the riots."
1994	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his compelling commentaries on a variety of social and political topics."
	Template:Sortname	Detroit Free Press	"for her 'Children First' columns, about issues affecting the youngest Americans.."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for his columns about California, filed from around the state."
1995	Template:Sortname	Newsday	"for his compelling and compassionate columns about New York City."
	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for his insightful columns on Washington politics."
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Sun-Times	"for his columns disclosing corruption and mismanagement at the NAACP, which prompted reforms at the civil rights organization."
1996	Template:Sortname	New York Daily News	"for her penetrating columns on race, welfare and other social issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for her columns effectively challenging key cases of alleged child abuse."
1997	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for her many-sided columns on Massachusetts people and issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his evocative columns ranging from sports and politics to tales of heroes and fools."
	Template:Sortname	Sun Sentinel	"for speaking out in highly personal yet broadly relevant columns in roles as diverse as parent, citizen, critic and philosopher."
1998	Template:Sortname	New York Daily News	"for reporting on the brutalization of a Haitian immigrant by police officers at a Brooklyn stationhouse."
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for his columns devoted to local children whose lives were mishandled by the welfare and judicial systems."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his knowledgeable and analytical columns on a wide variety of national subjects."
	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for her lyrical and evocative columns on an assortment of urban topics."
1999	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for her fresh and insightful columns on the impact of President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky."
	Template:Sortname	The Village Voice	"for his passionate columns championing free expression and individual rights."
	Template:Sortname	The Des Moines Register	"for his witty columns from Washington on politics and other national issues."
2000	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for his informative and insightful columns on politics and government."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his enlightening and entertaining observations on cultural and political issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his caring, persuasive columns addressing social and urban problems."
2001	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for her articles on American society and culture."
	Template:Sortname	The Philadelphia Inquirer	"for her humorous columns on modern life and popular culture."
	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for his perceptive, versatile columns on such subjects as politics, education and race."
	Template:Sortname	The Philadelphia Inquirer	"for her keenly analytical columns on the Middle East."
2002	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his clarity of vision, based on extensive reporting, in commenting on the worldwide impact of the terrorist threat."
	Template:Sortname	New York Daily News	"for his compassionate and humane columns, particularly those written after the terrorist attack on New York City."
	Template:Sortname	The Village Voice	"for his persuasive and authoritative columns on the threats to American civil liberties following the September 11th terrorist attacks."
2003	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his against-the-grain columns that speak to people in power with ferocity and wisdom."
	Template:Sortname	The Providence Journal	"for his clear, tenacious call to action against government corruption in Rhode Island."
	Template:Sortname	Richmond Times-Dispatch	"for his thought provoking, strongly reported columns on a broad range of topics."
2004	Template:Sortname	Miami Herald	"for his fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his columns that, through rigorous reporting and powerful writing, often gave voice to forgotten people trapped in misery."
	Template:Sortname	The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	"for her forceful, persuasive columns that confronted sacred cows and hot topics with unswerving candor."
2005	Template:Sortname	The Plain Dealer	"for her pungent columns that provided a voice for the underdog and underprivileged."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his powerful columns that portrayed suffering among the developing world's often forgotten people and stirred action."
	Template:Sortname	The Charlotte Observer	"for his provocative columns with a wide-ranging human touch."
2006	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his graphic, deeply reported columns that, at personal risk, focused attention on genocide in Darfur and that gave voice to the voiceless in other parts of the world."
	Template:Sortname	The Times-Picayune	"for his vibrant and compassionate columns that gave voice to the afflictions of his city after it was struck by Hurricane Katrina."
	Template:Sortname	The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	"for her pungent, clear-eyed columns that tackled controversial issues with frankness and fortitude."
2007	Template:Sortname	The Atlanta Journal-Constitution	"for her courageous, clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the community."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for her intelligent and incisive commentary on a range of subjects, using a voice that can be serious or playful."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his piercing, authoritative columns on business, often spotlighting misdeeds and flaws in corporate culture."
2008	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his insightful columns that explore the nation's complex economic ills with masterful clarity."
	Template:Sortname	The Plain Dealer	"for her passionate columns on alienated teenagers in a dangerous city neighborhood."
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for his hard-hitting columns on the abuse of local political power and a lively range of topics in a colorful city."
2009	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his eloquent columns on the 2008 presidential campaign that focus on the election of the first African-American president, showcasing graceful writing and grasp of the larger historic picture."
	Template:Sortname	The Plain Dealer	"for her range of compelling columns that move the heart, challenge authority and often trigger action while giving readers deeper insight into life's challenges."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his prophetic columns on economic peril during a year of financial calamity, blending the scholarly knowledge of a distinguished economist with the skill of a wordsmith."
2010	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for her perceptive, often witty columns on an array of political and moral issues."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his illumination of the nation's most pressing and complex economic concerns, from health care reform to the worst recession in decades."
	Template:Sortname	The Plain Dealer	"for his columns that close the distance between the reader and the rough streets of the city, confronting hard realities without leaving people to feel hopeless."
2011	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his graceful penetration of America's complicated economic questions, from the federal budget deficit to health care reform."
	Template:Sortname	The Plain Dealer	"for his blend of local storytelling and unpredictable opinions, enlarging the discussion of controversial issues that stir a big city."
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for her versatile columns exploring life and the concerns of a metropolis with whimsy and poignancy."
2012	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for her wide range of down-to-earth columns that reflect the character and capture the culture of her famed city."
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for his valorous columns that transport readers into dangerous international scenes, from Egypt to Kenya to Cambodia, often focusing on the disenfranchised and always providing insight."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for his engaging commentary on death and dying, marked by pieces on his own father's rapid physical and mental decline, that stir readers to address end-of-life questions."
2013	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for his incisive columns on American foreign policy and domestic politics, often enlivened by a contrarian twist."
	Template:Sortname	The Star-Ledger	"for his hard hitting columns on Hurricane Sandy, the death of a gay college student and other local events and issues."
	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for her colorful, well reported columns on an array of issues, from women in combat to oil drilling in Alaska."
2014	Template:Sortname	Detroit Free Press	"for his columns on the financial crisis facing his hometown, written with passion and a stirring sense of place, sparing no one in their critique."
	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for his street-wise local columns that capture the spirit of a city, especially after its famed marathon was devastated by terrorist bombings."
	Template:Sortname	Houston Chronicle	"for her provocative metro columns written from the perspective of a sixth-generation Texan, often challenging the powerful and giving voice to the voiceless."
2015	Template:Sortname	Houston Chronicle	"for vividly-written, groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for columns on the media whose subjects range from threats to cable television's profit-making power to ISIS's use of modern media to menace its enemies."Template:Efn
	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for columns from Ukraine, sometimes reported near heavy fighting, deepening readers' insights into the causes behind the conflict with Russia and the nature and motives of the people involved."
2016	Template:Sortname	The Boston Globe	"for extensively reported columns that probe the legacy of busing in Boston and its effect on education in the city with a clear eye on ongoing racial contradictions."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for courageously reported and deeply felt columns focused on the crisis of refugees from Syria and other war-torn regions."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for richly nuanced columns written in an elegant voice illuminating huge inequalities in wealth and opportunity in contemporary Los Angeles."
2017	Template:Sortname	The Wall Street Journal	"for rising to the moment with beautifully rendered columns that connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nation's most divisive political campaigns."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	Chicago Tribune	"for bold, clear columns by a writer who cast aside sacred cows and conventional wisdom to speak powerfully and passionately about politics and race in Chicago and beyond."
	Template:Sortname	The Philadelphia Inquirer	"for eloquent commentary written in world hotspots from Molenbeek near Brussels to the chancelleries of Beijing, reminding Americans of the importance of the foreign beat during a year when their tendency was to turn inward."
2018	Template:Sortname	Alabama Media Group	"for for lyrical and courageous commentary that is rooted in Alabama but has a national resonance in scrutinizing corrupt politicians, championing the rights of women and calling out hypocrisy."<ref name="Commentary">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The New Yorker	"for combining masterful writing with a deep knowledge of history and a deft reporter's touch to bring context and clarity to the issue of race at a time when respectful dialogue on the subject often gives way to finger-pointing and derision."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for graceful columns rich in detail that vividly illustrated how the crippling cost of housing in California is becoming an existential crisis for the state."
2019	Template:Sortname	St. Louis Post-Dispatch	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The Atlantic	"for luminous columns that expertly explore the intersection of gender and politics with a personal, yet keenly analytical, point of view."
	Template:Sortname	The Kansas City Star	"for examining, in spare and courageous writing, institutional sexism and misogyny within her hometown NFL team, her former governor's office and the Catholic Church."
2020	Template:Sortname	The New York Times	"for a sweeping, deeply reported and personal essay for the ground-breaking 1619 Project, which seeks to place the enslavement of Africans at the center of America's story, prompting public conversation about the nation's founding and evolution."<ref name=prize/>
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for columns that marshal a broad knowledge of history and culture to remind the sports world of its responsibility to uphold basic values of equity, fairness and tolerance."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for purposeful columns about rising homelessness in Los Angeles, which amplified calls for government action to deal with a long-visible public crisis."
2021	Template:Sortname	Richmond Times-Dispatch	"for penetrating and historically insightful columns that guided Richmond, a former capital of the Confederacy, through the painful and complicated process of dismantling the city's monuments to white supremacy."<ref name="prize"/>
	Template:Sortname	The Kansas City Star	"for tenacious and deeply reported columns on failures in the criminal justice system, forcefully arguing how systemic problems and abuses affect the larger community."
	Template:Sortname	Alabama Media Group	"for evocative columns on race and remembrance written with style, urgency, and moral clarity."
2022	Template:Sortname	The Kansas City Star	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The Atlantic	"for an illuminating essay that explores the familiar threats of climate change through the lesser-known stories of Indigenous Pacific Island communities who are fighting rising seas with a resilience that is both heartbreaking and hopeful."
	Template:Sortname	The Atlantic	"for her insightful, often prescient, columns on the pandemic and American culture, published in The New York Times and The Atlantic, that brought clarity to the shifting official guidance and compelled us towards greater compassion and informed response."
		The New York Times
2023	Template:Sortname	Alabama Media Group	"for measured and persuasive columns that document how Alabama's Confederate heritage still colors the present with racism and exclusion, told through tours of its first capital, its mansions and monuments—and through the history that has been omitted."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The Atlantic	"for thoughtful, versatile and entertaining columns that explore how gentrification and the predominant white culture in the U.S. stifle the physical and emotional expression of racial minorities."Template:Efn
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for columns that convey the anger and dread that many Americans felt about losing their right to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
2024	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for passionate columns written under great personal risk from his prison cell, warning of the consequences of dissent in Vladimir Putin's Russia and insisting on a democratic future for his country."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Template:Sortname	The New Yorker	"for original columns that force us to reexamine popular narratives and reframe such critical topics as affirmative action, racial politics and the portrayal of gun violence."
	Template:Sortname	Alabama Reflector	"for brave, clear and pointed columns that challenge ever-more-repressive state policies flouting democratic norms and targeting vulnerable populations, written with the command and authority of a veteran political observer."
2025	Template:Sortname	The New Yorker	"for essays on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience of more than a year and a half of war with Israel."
	Template:Sortname	Los Angeles Times	"for vivid columns reported from across the Southwest that shattered stereotypes and probed complex shifts in politics in an election year when Latinos were pivotal voters."
	Template:Sortname	The Washington Post	"for his perceptive and informed use of sports to examine critical social divisions in America through difficult conversations about race, gender and media bias."