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Usually, the annual Pulitzer Prizes announcements come with the requisite photos of champagne bottle popping, toasts and speeches. But these are not usual times.
After the Pulitzers were awarded Monday, winning newsrooms celebrated in the same place many of them now have daily staff meetings due to the coronavirus pandemic: video calls.
“We usually gather in the newsroom for cake and champagne on Pulitzer Day. Today, the @latimes is celebrating a big year — two Pulitzer Prizes, three finalists — on Zoom!” tweeted Laura Nelson, a transportation reporter at the Los Angeles Times. “A little different, but no less moving.”
Some winning journalists, like Baltimore Sun political reporter Luke Broadwater, gave speeches about their reporting process. Others, like New York Times staff writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, shared reactions from their families. And some decided to pop some bottles anyway.
Below are a few examples of how newsrooms celebrated their Pulitzer wins while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Tag @Poynter on Twitter to share your newsroom’s celebration with us.
We usually gather in the newsroom for cake and champagne on Pulitzer Day. Today, the @latimes is celebrating a big year — two Pulitzer Prizes, three finalists — on Zoom! A little different, but no less moving. So proud. 🍾🏅 pic.twitter.com/g2KM3qBubr
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) May 4, 2020
Pulitzer celebration @latimes via Zoom. Strange times we’re living in, but I’m happy to see these smiling faces. pic.twitter.com/xkMOgR9n10
— Kimi Yoshino (@kyoshino) May 4, 2020
Sad that I’m not in the newsroom for the NYT Pulitzer announcements but also grateful for the opportunity to see colleagues dressed in ties and suits at home (bookshelves too, but we’re all over those by now right?)
— Jane Bradley (@jane__bradley) May 4, 2020
Pulitzer Prize announcement day 2020. There are 63 people in our @seattletimes Zoom Meeting eagerly awaiting the results! Miss you all, friends! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ncYMzpp7jH
— Stefanie Loh (@StefanieLoh) May 4, 2020
Toasting The Baltimore Sun, Pulitzer Prize winner. pic.twitter.com/xvjxJS5KvU
— John McIntyre (@johnemcintyre) May 4, 2020
So damn lucky to work with truly great journalists, from the newsletter editor who starts at 4 a.m. to page designers who put the paper to bed near midnight & all the brilliant folks in between — like newly minted Pulitzer winner @dominicgates! https://t.co/K2E8yf6RUa Go team! pic.twitter.com/FO3PVaGkxJ
— Lynn Jacobson (@lynnjacobson) May 4, 2020
Accepting the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary for her lead essay in the 1619 Project, @nhannahjones tells the @nytimes staff it is “the most important work of my life.” She adds that her daughter asked “Are you famous now?” and that she told her the goal is “to make a difference.” pic.twitter.com/Xo465erVAa
— Jessica Lustig (@jessicalustig) May 4, 2020
WaPo Pulitzer celebration pic.twitter.com/MpaDRD6lOf
— paul schwartzman (@paulschwartzman) May 4, 2020
Support local journalism. #pulitzer pic.twitter.com/O9Lv9ThrH5
— Dahlia Bazzaz داليا بزاز (@dahliabazzaz) May 4, 2020
Newsroom Pulitzer acceptance speech In The Time of Coronavirus. @lukebroadwater talking about how the first story was turned in a couple hours, and was followed by weeks and weeks of digging and peeling back layers by the @baltimoresun team pic.twitter.com/z8VMn7tniG
— Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton) May 4, 2020
CONGRATULATIONS to all the Pulitzer winners, and especially @dominicgates @ByMikeBaker and @lewiskamb (@rgrunbaum !) for their coverage of Boeing. This is how we celebrate @seattletimes today.🍾🍾🍾 pic.twitter.com/uq33WnB0ZZ
— Joy (@Joy_Resmovits) May 4, 2020
Daniel Funke is a staff writer covering online misinformation for PolitiFact. Reach him at dfunke@poynter.org or on Twitter @dpfunke.
More Pulitzer coverage from Poynter
- Here are the winners of the 2020 Pulitzer Prizes
- Here are the 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoons
- Pulitzers honor Ida B. Wells, an early pioneer of investigative journalism and civil rights icon
- Nikole Hannah-Jones’ essay from ‘The 1619 Project’ wins commentary Pulitzer
- Reporting about climate change was a winner in this year’s Pulitzers
- ‘Lawless,’ an expose of villages without police protection, wins Anchorage Daily News its third Public Service Pulitzer
- The iconic ‘This American Life’ won the first-ever ‘Audio Reporting’ Pulitzer
- The Washington Post won a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting for a novel climate change story
