Kendrick Lamar, Russian hackers in the USA and the victory over Harvey Weinstein: 2018 Pulitzer Laureates
The winners of the Pulitzer Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for socially significant achievements in journalism, literature, music and for their contribution to culture, have been announced in the United States.
One of the winners was rapper Kendrick Lamar — thanks to his album "DAMN.", released in 2017. Among the winners are also journalists who revealed sexual harassment by influential figures in Hollywood and told about the ties of the election headquarters of US President Donald Trump with officials from Russia.
Kendrick Lamar became the first non-classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize. The organizers noted his album "DAMN." for its "authenticity and rhythm", as well as for the artistic description of the difficulties of "modern life of African Americans in America".
The award for the best photo was taken by photographer Ryan Kelly for The Daily Progress, taken on his last working day in his position. The photo captures the moment when a car driven by one of the opponents of the rally drove into the protesters against the nationalists in Charlottesville, USA.
Ryan was returning home from the World Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam when he opened the news and saw his name on the list of award winners in the news feed.
I think this is a serious reminder for everyone about the important role that regional journalism plays. Today, the whole world knows what happened in Charlottesville."
Ryan Kelly
A Reuters photo project documenting the flight of families of the ethnic Rohingya minority persecuted in Myanmar was recognized as the best artistic photo.
The journalism Award for investigations of sexual harassment by high-ranking Hollywood employees, as well as politicians and management companies in Silicon Valley was shared by a team of reporters from The New York Times and journalist Ronan Farrow from The New Yorker magazine.
Their investigations actually "overthrew" the most influential producer Harvey Weinstein and inspired the popular MeToo movement, during which women talk about their experiences and uncover crimes with elements of harassment that have been hushed up for a long time.
Other teams of The New York Times and The Washington Post shared the award for investigating Russia's alleged influence on the 2016 US presidential election, which was won by Donald Trump, whose team members repeatedly contacted Russian officials.
The Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1917, and since 2018, the winners receive $15,000 each and are determined by the council of visiting professors and writers.
The last Russian to win the Pulitzer Prize was photographer Sergey Ponomarev, who took a series of heartbreaking pictures of refugees from the Middle East on their way to Europe in 2016.
Keywords: Refugees | Harassment | Journalism | Music | Myanmar | Pulitzer prize | Investigation | Photography | Photojournalism | Hip hop