# Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary

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Joseph Pulitzer
Columbia University
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The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 to 2021.

## History

Since 1922 the prize had been awarded for a distinguished editorial cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect.
Since 1980, finalists (usually two) have been announced in addition to the winner.
Only two comic strips have been awarded the prize: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau in 1976 and Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed in 1987.
In 2021, with Ruben Bolling, Marty Two Bulls Sr, and Lalo Alcaraz the finalists, no winner was selected, which drew controversy. (The same thing happened in the category in 1923, 1936, 1960, 1965, and 1973, but it had not happened in 48 years, and it was the first time no winner was selected when the finalists' names had been made public.)
In 2022, the Editorial Cartooning prize was superseded by the revamped category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, In response, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists "issued a statement calling for the Pulitzer board to reinstate Editorial Cartooning as its own category while also recognizing Illustrated Reporting as a separate form." They wrote:
   "'Editorial cartoons are quick, in-the-moment commentary, whose artists have to educate themselves on complex issues and craft well-informed opinions in a single take that emphasizes clarity under daily deadlines. Illustrated reporting, or comics journalism, takes days, weeks, or months to craft a story, which can run for pages, and which may or may not be presenting an opinion.'"
The 2022 award went to a work of comics journalism.

## List of winners

| Year | Winner | Organization | Rationale |
| 1922 | Rollin Kirby | New York World | "For 'On the Road to Moscow.'" |
| 1923 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 1924 | Jay Norwood Darling | Des Moines Register & Tribune | "For 'In Good Old USA.'" |
| 1925 | Rollin Kirby | New York World | "For 'News from the Outside World.'" |
| 1926 | D. R. Fitzpatrick | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | "For 'The Laws of Moses and the Laws of Today.'" |
| 1927 | Nelson Harding | Brooklyn Daily Eagle | "For 'Toppling the Idol.'" |
| 1928 | Nelson Harding | Brooklyn Daily Eagle | "For 'May His Shadow Never Grow Less.'" |
| 1929 | Rollin Kirby | New York World | "For 'Tammany.'" |
| 1930 | Charles R. Macauley | Brooklyn Daily Eagle | "For 'Paying for a Dead Horse.'" |
| 1931 | Edmund Duffy | The Baltimore Sun | "For 'An Old Struggle Still Going On.'" |
| 1932 | John T. McCutcheon | Chicago Tribune | "For 'A Wise Economist Asks a Question.'" |
| 1933 | H. M. Talburt | The Washington Daily News | "For 'The Light of Asia.'" |
| 1934 | Edmund Duffy | The Baltimore Sun | "For 'California Points with Pride!'" |
| 1935 | Ross A. Lewis | Milwaukee Journal | "For 'Sure, I'll Work for Both Sides.'" |
| 1936 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 1937 | C. D. Batchelor | New York Daily News | "For 'Come on in, I'll treat you right. I used to know your Daddy.'" |
| 1938 | Vaughn Shoemaker | Chicago Daily News | "For 'The Road Back.'" |
| 1939 | Charles G. Werner | Daily Oklahoman | "For 'Nomination for 1938.'" |
| 1940 | Edmund Duffy | The Baltimore Sun | "For 'The Outstretched Hand.'" |
| 1941 | Jacob Burck | Chicago Daily Times | "For 'If I Should Die Before I Wake.'" |
| 1942 | Herbert Lawrence Block | Newspaper Enterprise Association | "For 'British Plane.'" |
| 1943 | Jay Norwood Darling | Des Moines Register & Tribune | "For 'What a Place For a Waste Paper Salvage Campaign.'" |
| 1944 | Clifford K. Berryman | The Evening Star | "For 'But Where Is the Boat Going?'" |
| 1945 | Sergeant Bill Mauldin | United Feature Syndicate, Inc. | "For distinguished service as a cartoonist, as exemplified by the cartoon entitled, 'Fresh, spirited American troops, flushed with victory, are bringing in thousands of hungry, ragged, battle-weary prisoners,' in the series entitled, 'Up Front With Mauldin.'" |
| 1946 | Bruce Alexander Russell | Los Angeles Times | "For 'Time to Bridge That Gulch.'" |
| 1947 | Vaughn Shoemaker | Chicago Daily News | "For his cartoon, 'Still Racing His Shadow.'" |
| 1948 | Reuben L. Goldberg | New York Sun | "For 'Peace Today.'" |
| 1949 | Lute Pease | Newark Evening News | "For 'Who Me?'" |
| 1950 | James T. Berryman | The Evening Star | "For 'All Set for a Super-Secret Session in Washington.'" |
| 1951 | Reg (Reginald W.) Manning | Arizona Republic | "For 'Hats.'" |
| 1952 | Fred L. Packer | New York Mirror | "For 'Your Editors Ought to Have More Sense Than to Print What I Say!'" |
| 1953 | Edward D. Kuekes | Cleveland Plain Dealer | "For 'Aftermath.'" |
| 1954 | Herbert L. Block (Herblock) | The Washington Post and Times-Herald | "For a cartoon depicting the robed figure of Death saying to Stalin after he died, 'You Were Always A Great Friend of Mine, Joseph.'" |
| 1955 | Daniel R. Fitzpatrick | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | "For a cartoon published on June 8, 1954 entitled, 'How Would Another Mistake Help?' showing Uncle Sam, bayoneted rifle in hand, pondering whether to wade into a black marsh bearing the legend 'French Mistakes in Indo-China.' The award is also given for distinguished body of the work of Mr. Fitzpatrick in both 1954 and his entire career." |
| 1956 | Robert York | Louisville Times | "For his cartoon, 'Achilles' showing a bulging figure of American prosperity tapering to a weak heel labeled 'Farm Prices.'" |
| 1957 | Tom Little | The Nashville Tennessean | "For 'Wonder Why My Parents Didn't Give Me Salk Shots?' Published on January 12, 1956." |
| 1958 | Bruce M. Shanks | Buffalo Evening News | "For 'The Thinker,' published on August 10, 1957, depicting the dilemma of union membership when confronted by racketeering leaders in some labor unions." |
| 1959 | William H. (Bill) Mauldin | St. Louis Post-Dispatch | "For 'I won the Nobel Prize for Literature. What was your crime?' Published on October 30, 1958." |
| 1960 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 1961 | Carey Orr | Chicago Tribune | "For 'The Kindly Tiger,' published on October 8, 1960." |
| 1962 | Edmund S. Valtman | The Hartford Times | "For 'What You Need, Man, Is a Revolution Like Mine,' published on August 31, 1961." |
| 1963 | Frank Miller | Des Moines Register | "For a cartoon which showed a world destroyed with one ragged figure calling to another: 'I said we sure settled that dispute, didn't we!'" |
| 1964 | Paul Conrad | The Denver Post | "For his editorial cartooning during the past year" |
| 1965 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 1966 | Don Wright | The Miami News | "For 'You Mean You Were Bluffing?'" |
| 1967 | Patrick B. Oliphant | The Denver Post | "For 'They Won't Get Us To The Conference Table...Will They?' Published February 1, 1966." |
| 1968 | Eugene Gray Payne | The Charlotte Observer | "For his editorial cartooning in 1967." |
| 1969 | John Fischetti | Chicago Daily News | "For his editorial cartooning in 1968." |
| 1970 | Thomas F. Darcy | Newsday | "For his editorial cartooning during 1969." |
| 1971 | Paul Conrad | Los Angeles Times | "For his editorial cartooning during 1970." |
| 1972 | Jeffrey K. MacNelly | Richmond News-Leader | "For his editorial cartooning during 1971." |
| 1973 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 1974 | Paul Szep | The Boston Globe | "For his editorial cartooning during 1973." |
| 1975 | Garry Trudeau | Universal Press Syndicate | "For his cartoon strip Doonesbury." |
| 1976 | Tony Auth | The Philadelphia Inquirer | "For 'O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,' published on July 22, 1975." |
| 1977 | Paul Szep | The Boston Globe | |
| 1978 | Jeffrey K. MacNelly | Richmond News Leader | |
| 1979 | Herbert L. Block | The Washington Post | "For the body of his work." |
| 1980 | Don Wright | The Miami News | |
| 1981 | Mike Peters | Dayton Daily News | |
| 1982 | Ben Sargent | Austin American-Statesman | |
| 1983 | Richard Locher | Chicago Tribune | |
| 1984 | Paul Conrad | Los Angeles Times | |
| 1985 | Jeff MacNelly | Chicago Tribune | |
| 1986 | Jules Feiffer | The Village Voice | |
| 1987 | Berke Breathed | The Washington Post Writers Group | |
| 1988 | Doug Marlette | The Atlanta Constitution and Charlotte Observer | |
| 1989 | Jack Higgins | Chicago Sun-Times | |
| 1990 | Tom Toles | The Buffalo News | "For his work during the year as exemplified by the cartoon 'First Amendment.'" |
| 1991 | Jim Borgman | The Cincinnati Enquirer | |
| 1992 | Signe Wilkinson | The Philadelphia Daily News | |
| 1993 | Stephen R. Benson | The Arizona Republic | |
| 1994 | Michael P. Ramirez | Commercial Appeal | "For his trenchant cartoons on contemporary issues." |
| 1995 | Mike Luckovich | The Atlanta Constitution | |
| 1996 | Jim Morin | The Miami Herald | |
| 1997 | Walt Handelsman | Times-Picayune | |
| 1998 | Stephen P. Breen | Asbury Park Press | |
| 1999 | David Horsey | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer | |
| 2000 | Joel Pett | Lexington Herald-Leader | |
| 2001 | Ann Telnaes | Los Angeles Times Syndicate | |
| 2002 | Clay Bennett | The Christian Science Monitor | |
| 2003 | David Horsey | The Seattle Post-Intelligencer | "For his perceptive cartoons executed with a distinctive style and sense of humor." |
| 2004 | Matt Davies | The Journal News | "For his piercing cartoons on an array of topics, drawn with a fresh, original style." |
| 2005 | Nick Anderson | The Courier-Journal | "For his unusual graphic style that produced extraordinarily thoughtful and powerful messages." |
| 2006 | Mike Luckovich | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | "For his powerful cartoons on an array of issues, drawn with a simple but piercing style." |
| 2007 | Walt Handelsman | Newsday | "For his stark, sophisticated cartoons and his impressive use of zany animation." |
| 2008 | Michael Ramirez | Investor's Business Daily | "For his provocative cartoons that rely on originality, humor and detailed artistry." |
| 2009 | Steve Breen | The San Diego Union-Tribune | "For his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor." |
| 2010 | Mark Fiore | Self-syndicated; appearing on SFGate.com | "For his animated cartoons appearing on SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, where his biting wit, extensive research and ability to distill complex issues set a high standard for an emerging form of commentary." |
| 2011 | Mike Keefe | The Denver Post | "For his widely ranging cartoons that employ a loose, expressive style to send strong, witty messages." |
| 2012 | Matt Wuerker | Politico | "For his consistently fresh, funny cartoons, especially memorable for lampooning the partisan conflict that engulfed Washington." |
| 2013 | Steve Sack | Star Tribune | "For his diverse collection of cartoons, using an original style and clever ideas to drive home his unmistakable point of view." |
| 2014 | Kevin Siers | The Charlotte Observer | "For his thought provoking cartoons drawn with a sharp wit and bold artistic style." |
| 2015 | Adam Zyglis | The Buffalo News | "Who used strong images to connect with readers while conveying layers of meaning in a few words." |
| 2016 | Jack Ohman | The Sacramento Bee | "For cartoons that convey wry, rueful perspectives through sophisticated style that combines bold line work with subtle colors and textures." |
| 2017 | Jim Morin | Miami Herald | "For editorial cartoons that delivered sharp perspectives through flawless artistry, biting prose and crisp wit." |
| 2018 | Jake Halpern and Michael Sloan | The New York Times | "For an emotionally powerful series, told in graphic narrative form, that chronicled the daily struggles of a real-life family of refugees and its fear of deportation." |
| 2019 | Darrin Bell | Freelancer | "For beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration." |
| 2020 | Barry Blitt | The New Yorker | "For work that skewers the personalities and policies emanating from the Trump White House with deceptively sweet watercolor style and seemingly gentle caricatures." |
| 2021 | No award given. | No award given. | No award given. |
| 2022 | Fahmida Azim, Anthony Del Col, Walt Hickey and Josh Adams | Insider | "For using graphic reportage and the comics medium to tell a powerful yet intimate story of the Chinese oppression of the Uyghurs, making the issue accessible to a wider public." |
| 2023 | Mona Chalabi | The New York Times | "For striking illustrations that combine statistical reporting with keen analysis to help readers understand the immense wealth and economic power of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos." |
| 2024 | Medar de la Cruz | The New Yorker | "For his visually-driven story set inside Rikers Island jail using bold black-and-white images that humanize the prisoners and staff through their hunger for books." |

## Repeat winners

Through 2017, eighteen people have won the Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer twice, and five of those have won it three times.
| Name | No. | Years won |
| Rollin Kirby | 3 | 1922, 1925, 1929 |
| Edmund Duffy | 3 | 1931, 1934, 1940 |
| Herbert L. Block | 3 | 1942, 1954, 1979 |
| Paul Conrad | 3 | 1964, 1971, 1984 |
| Jeff MacNelly | 3 | 1972, 1978, 1985 |
| Jay Norwood Darling | 2 | 1924, 1943 |
| Daniel R. Fitzpatrick | 2 | 1926, 1955 |
| Nelson Harding | 2 | 1927, 1928 |
| Vaughn Shoemaker | 2 | 1938, 1947 |
| Bill Mauldin | 2 | 1945, 1959 |
| Don Wright | 2 | 1966, 1980 |
| Paul Szep | 2 | 1974, 1977 |
| Michael Ramirez | 2 | 1994, 2008 |
| Mike Luckovich | 2 | 1995, 2006 |
| Jim Morin | 2 | 1996, 2017 |
| Walt Handelsman | 2 | 1997, 2007 |
| Steve Breen | 2 | 1998, 2009 |
| David Horsey | 2 | 1999, 2003 |
Nelson Harding is the only cartoonist to have won the prize in two consecutive years, 1927 and 1928.