The Pulitzer Prizes recognize some of the year’s most important journalism. This year, someone who isn’t a professional journalist, but whose actions had as much impact as any, is among those being honored.
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Darnella Frazier, who filmed the death of George Floyd, received a special citation, Aminda Marqués González, co-chair of the Pulitzer Prize Board, announced Friday.
The 2020 news cycle was dominated by the pandemic, altering every aspect of life including how newsrooms operated. News organizations also covered and were affected by a reckoning over racial injustice. And of course, there was the presidential election.
These three topics, unsurprisingly, were the coverage areas honored with Pulitzer Prizes, the most prestigious awards in American journalism, on Friday afternoon.
“The magnitude of these stories and the pace at which they unfolded pushed many in the news business to the limits of endurance,” Marqués González said during a live broadcast. “Much of the great work this year came against the backdrop of unfathomable loss as our colleagues and fellow citizens mourn the deaths of more than 600,000 people from COVID.”
The awards, administered by Columbia University, recognize reporting in newspapers, magazines and digital news outlets.
This year’s announcement was originally scheduled for April 19. But it was postponed to June so that the board members could meet in-person to evaluate the entries rather than choose the winners remotely.
