ProPublica, an online journalism outlet, was announced today as one of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize winners. This is the organization’s second Pulitzer; its first was awarded in 2010.ProPublica is an independent nonprofit that syndicates content to various traditional news organizations; however, ProPublica itself operates solely on the Internet. This organization prides itself on its investigative reporting done “in the public interest.”
Last year marked the first time an online-only publication had been awarded the prestigious Pulitzer. ProPublica reporter Sheri Fink was the history-making online journalist to be recognized for her piece on the practice of medicine and euthanasia during and immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.
This year, ProPublica’s Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein were recognized in the National Reporting category for “The Wall Street Money Machine“, which contained investigative reporting on how certain Wall Street bankers’ actions worsened the financial crisis. Their reporting was done with help from NPR programs Planet Money and This American Life.
The pair was specifically commended for “using digital tools to help explain the complex subject to lay readers.”
Eisinger and Bernstein beat out competitors from Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal. Reporters from those publications were also nominated in the National Reporting category for pieces on the questionable practices of life insurance companies and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, respectively.
Paul Steiger is ProPublica’s editor-in-chief, CEO and president. On the site today, he wrote, “These awards mean a lot to our staff, especially as all of them reflect the judgment of our peers in journalism. … ProPublica was created to spur reform through journalistic means, and to do this by reporting and writing stories with ‘moral force,’ that is, stories about abuse of power or failure to uphold the public trust. That is our mission, and today’s award encourages us to continue it with increased vigor.”
