If you haven’t read The New York Times’ special investigation into Donald Trump’s finances, which was published last October, you should: Its authors just won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of explanatory reporting.
The 13,000-word story — one of the longest investigative pieces ever published in The Times — made a mockery of the President’s long-held claim, “I built what I built myself.”
The story, which took reporters David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner 18 months to report and write, revealed that Trump received the equivalent, in today’s dollars, of at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire. In addition, much of that money was realized through dubious tax schemes he participated in during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud.
The Pulitzer was the fourth for Barstow, a record for a reporter.
Susanne Craig addressed The New York Times newsroom Monday after she, Russ Buettner, to her right, and David Barstow, to Buettner’s right, won the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting.
The Pulitzer Prizes, journalism’s highest honor, were awarded yesterday. Among the winners was St. Louis Post-Dispatch metro columnist Tony Messenger, who won for a series of pieces that exposed how poor people convicted of misdemeanor crimes were charged fees for their time in jail, sometimes leading to years of debt and imprisonment. As a result of Messenger’s columns, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that the practice was illegal.
Tony Messenger and his editor, Marcia L. Koenig, reacted to the announcement that he had won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Messenger, 52, is an inspiring person in addition to being an accomplished journalist. In 2015, he was a Pulitzer finalist for the paper’s editorials on unrest in Ferguson. Late that same year he developed throat cancer and had to take a leave of absence while fighting it. When he returned to work, he came back as metro columnist.
The Star’s Melinda Henneberger was a finalist in the commentary category for a series of columns, including several on former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens and the affair that led to his downfall. Caitlin Flanagan of The Atlantic was the other finalist in the commentary category.
The winner in the public service category was the South Florida Sun Sentinel for its coverage of the causes and consequences of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The paper exposed a culture of leniency at Broward County schools, mistakes by the sheriff’s office in responding to the attack and attempts by officials to cover up their failures.
The Pulitzer for breaking news photography went to several staff members of the Reuters news service for a series of photos titled “On the Migrant Trail to America.” Here is one of the photos.
Here is the complete list of this year’s Pulitzer Prize winners.
I found it embarrassing for the Star that it put the story of Henneberger being a finalist on the top of its front page, as if anybody beyond the newsroom (and former starfolk like JimmyC) care a whit about this. Plus—She didn’t win! It’s as if the editors imagined it would have been a good morale boost if the paper won a Pulitzer, then decided, “Well, let’s just pretend we won; finalist sounds important.” I’ll leave aside whether she was deserving of such recognition—her writing has been neither memorable nor thought-provoking—but to position such blatant self-promotion as the most important news of the day for the Kansas City area shows the Star to be no better than a vanity publication for the few people still employed there.
My thoughts precisely, Mike…And, as a matter of fact, it was after seeing The Star’s online story yesterday about Henneberger being a “finalist” that I decided to do an overarching piece, putting everything in proper perspective. I knew their story would not do justice to Tony Messenger and the other actual winners.
The Star and McClatchy have sunk so far that they glom onto anything that reflects positively — even if they have to distort the recognition to the point of virtually disregarding those most deserving of the credit.
In defense of the Star: at least they put the full-page ad in today’s paper praising Henneberger at the end of Section A rather than on the front page.
Another thing about yesterday’s A1 story: The headline read, “The Star’s Henneberger named Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary.”
That wording could lead readers to believe her nomination was still in play — when it definitely was not. It should have been worded differently — and, of course, should not have led the page.