About
the Prize
The Pulitzer Prize, is an American award regarded as the highest national
honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition.
It is administered by Columbia University in New York City.
Prizes
are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each
winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash reward. The winner
in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded
a gold medal, which always goes to a newspaper, although an individual
may be named in the citation.
The prize
was established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist
and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon
his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the
university's journalism school in 1912. The first Pulitzer Prizes
were awarded on June 4, 1917, and they are now announced each April.
Recipients are chosen by an independent board.