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** OPINION
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** Pablo Torre left the worldwide leader in sports to start a podcast. It just won a Pulitzer.
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Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, right, talks to the media in 2019, as team chairman Steve Ballmer, sitting second from the left in a blue dress shirt, listens. The two were at the center of a Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast from Pablo Torre. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

The Pulitzer Prizes — the most prestigious awards in journalism — were announced Monday ([link removed]) . The prizes, of course, recognized dozens of winners and finalists, showing elite journalism is still alive and well. Among the work was coverage of critically important topics such as immigration, the war in Gaza, the harms of social media to children, a horrific school shooting and how President Donald Trump has used his position for personal financial gain and to exact vengeance on his perceived enemies.

I’ll get into some of the more interesting stories in today’s special Pulitzer edition of The Poynter Report in a moment.

But I wanted to start with the winner in Audio Reporting.

Audio Reporting is a relatively new category, only introduced in 2020. The very first such Pulitzer went to “This American Life.”

Right from the beginning, the Pulitzer board did an excellent job defining the award: “For a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterized by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling.”

And this year’s winner certainly exemplified that definition. “Pablo Torre Finds Out” ([link removed]) is a groundbreaking podcast headed up by longtime sports journalist Pablo Torre, formerly of Sports Illustrated and ESPN. Until a couple of years ago, Torre was best known for appearances on ESPN debate shows such as “Around the Horn” and “Highly Questionable,” and as an occasional fill-in on “Pardon the Interruption.” He also had his own show for a spell with Bomani Jones called “High Noon.”

But in September 2023, Torre tried something new: his own podcast, called “Pablo Torre Finds Out.” This wasn’t just some thrown-together project where he invited sportswriter friends to talk about who should be the first pick in the NFL Draft or decide if Michael Jordan or LeBron James is better. This was a podcast with a staff that investigated topics that ranged from serious (Jeffrey Epstein) to not-so-serious (football coaching legend Bill Belichick and his relationship with a much younger girlfriend). But all topics were treated with equal work ethic and reverence.

Torre recently returned to Harvard, his alma mater, and told Harvard Law Today’s Scott Young ([link removed]) , “All great stories, in my experience, start with something like me deciding, ‘Does this smell weird?’”

The story that won Torre’s staff (and, to be clear, the Pulitzer appropriately awarded the prize to the staff of “Pablo Torre Finds Out”) was how the Los Angeles Clippers seemingly circumvented the NBA’s salary cap ([link removed]) by paying star player Kawhi Leonard extra money (some $28 million) through a questionable “no-show” endorsement deal with a company that had ties to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

Honestly, it was heartening that the Pulitzer board recognized a podcast that devotes so much energy to producing deeply-reported stories. As the Pulitzer board aptly called it, “Pablo Torre Finds Out” is “pioneering and entertaining.” The choice also earned widespread praise on social media.

Anyone who wins a Pulitzer should be proud, but it’s especially nice to see someone leave a reliable, well-paying job at ESPN, take a risk on something new, and have it pay off like this.

Torre’s podcast is produced by Meadowlark Media and licensed by The Athletic, which is owned by The New York Times.

A MESSAGE FROM POYNTER
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** A special citation
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There are times when the full extent of a journalist’s work isn’t realized until long after their reporting began. Such is the case with the Miami Herald’s Julie K. Brown, who — back in 2017 and 2018 — reported on stories that exposed how Jeffrey Epstein was protected by prosecutors despite his sexual abuse of young women. Her reporting led to his arrest in 2019. We’ve all seen the ramifications since then.

Brown was awarded a special citation by the Pulitzer board, which wrote, “She went on to document and give voice to the scores of victims who had been groomed and abused by him and others in his circle. Her work, and the release of the government’s Epstein files, continue to reverberate around the world.”


** Heartbreaking work
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Jahi Chikwendiu of The Washington Post won a Pulitzer in Feature Photography for what the board called “a heart-wrenching and achingly beautiful photo essay” of a young family who had the bittersweet experience of welcoming their first child as the father was dying from cancer.

In Breaking News Photography, Saher Alghorra, a contributor for The New York Times, won for showing the devastating effects of attacks and starvation in Gaza resulting from the war with Israel.

Meanwhile, Aaron Parsley of Texas Monthly won for Feature Writing for what the board called an “extraordinary personal account of survival and loss written days after the historic Central Texas floods that tore the writer’s house out from under him and his family, taking the life of his nephew.”


** NYT photos
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Here’s The New York Times with “Our Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer’s Work From Gaza.” ([link removed])


** Speaking of freelancers
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Independent journalists made a strong showing this year, winning in three categories, including Alghorra’s work in the Times.

Yael Grauer was part of an Associated Press team that won for International Reporting, an expansive investigation into the global spread of mass surveillance tools. And in Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, Anand RK and Suparna Sharma, alongside Bloomberg’s Natalie Obiko Pearson, were honored for “trAPPed,” an account of a neurologist in India targeted by a sophisticated scam.


** The big prize
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The Pulitzer for Public Service, considered the big award of the Pulitzers, went to The Washington Post for “piercing the veil of secrecy around the Trump administration's chaotic overhaul of federal agencies and chronicling in rich detail the human impacts of the cuts and the consequences for the country.”

Interesting that the Post has been ravaged by recent layoffs and departures, many of which came after the work that won the Public Service Pulitzer.

On one hand, it’s still good to see the Post’s name associated with the Pulitzer Prizes. But on the other hand, it will be curious to see if that continues. So many really talented journalists still work there. But far fewer than there used to be.


** New awards
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My colleague Angela Fu has this story: “The Pulitzers name winners in two new categories, Beat Reporting and Opinion Writing.” ([link removed])

Fu writes, “The new categories in part reflect shifting priorities in newsrooms. In recent years, many outlets have moved away from opinion journalism, especially the unsigned editorials that had been honored by the Editorial Writing category. In 2022, that category received 51 entries, according to Pulitzer Prizes administrator Marjorie Miller. Last year, it received only 25 entries.”

Miller told Fu, “Increasingly, they (editorials) were getting signed or had a name of a writer, and that was making them even more like opinion pieces, even though it was the paper’s position. And fewer and fewer papers were having editorial departments or were submitting. So many papers were folding, and there were just not enough entries the board felt to make it a big and competitive category.”

Fu also wrote, “In bringing back the Beat Reporting category, the Pulitzer Prize board was attempting to be ‘a little bit more expansive,’ Miller said. The board felt that beat reporting had become ‘underrepresented’ in the Local and National Reporting categories, which tend to be dominated by breaking news coverage or investigative projects.”


** Tech pitfalls and peril get a spotlight
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My Poynter colleague TyLisa C. Johnson writes:

Three organizations were awarded Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of the pitfalls and perilous impacts of technology, mass surveillance and the poor implementation of tech tools.

Reuters won the Beat Reporting category for reporting on Meta that detailed the technology company’s willingness to expose users, including children, to scams and AI manipulation. The Associated Press won the International Reporting category for a global investigation into mass surveillance tools with secret new uses by the U.S. Border Patrol.

The San Francisco Chronicle won the Explanatory Reporting category for a series that showed how insurance companies used algorithmic tools that systematically undervalued properties, denied claims and made it impossible for Californians attempting to recover from fires to rebuild.


** Going local
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My Poynter colleague Josie Hollingsworth writes about the Chronicle’s win:

The last time a local newsroom received the sought-after explanatory reporting prize was 2018, when staffs of The Arizona Republic and USA Today Network won for multimedia coverage of the difficulties and unintended consequences of fulfilling President Trump’s pledge to construct a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.


** Breaking news reporting
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The Minnesota Star Tribune won a Pulitzer for Breaking News for covering an unspeakable tragedy: a shooting at a church that killed two children and wounded 17 other people.

Here’s my Poynter colleague Amaris Castillo with “A church shooting shook Minneapolis. The Star Tribune’s newsroom responded together — and won a Pulitzer.” ([link removed])


** Much much more
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There’s plenty more news about Monday’s Pulitzers announcement.

For a complete list of winners, and many of the links to the winners and finalists, check out this story from my colleague, Ren LaForme ([link removed]) .

That’s your Pulitzer wrap-up for the day, but be sure to go to Poynter’s website for more Pulitzer stories. And I might have some more interesting Pulitzer news in the days ahead. Now onto other media news, tidbits and interesting links …
* John Sterling, who called New York Yankees games on the radio for more than 35 years before retiring in 2024, has died from complications of a heart attack. He was 87. Sterling called more Yankees games than any announcer ever, including legendary names such as Phil Rizzuto and Mel Allen. At one stretch, he called 5,060 consecutive games. He was known for his trademark calls on home runs as well as saying, “The Yankees win. Thaaaaaa Yankees win.” The New York Times’ Richard Sandomir has a superb obit ([link removed]) , covering Sterling’s life and what made him so special to Yankees fans.
* Sticking with sports, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are reuniting this week on ESPN’s “First Take.” Bayless will join Smith from Los Angeles on Friday’s episode. Bayless used to star alongside Smith on the show until departing for Fox Sports 1 nearly a decade ago, and the relationship between the two seemed frosty at times since then. Bayless’ show on FS1 ended in 2024. Smith and Bayless haven’t appeared on TV together since June 2016. In the press release, ESPN emphasized that it will be a “one-time reunion.” Then again, would anyone be shocked if it turned out to be more than one time? Awful Announcing’s Sam Neumann has more here ([link removed]) .
* Another from the sports world and, yikes, it is spicy. The “Inside the NBA” crew used a graphic featuring former Athletic NFL reporter Dianna Russini and NFL coach Mike Vrabel doing the “I’m flying” scene between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Titanic.” Russini recently left her job at The Athletic after the New York Post published photos of her and Vrabel hanging out together at a luxury resort. Awful Announcing’s Matt Clapp has more ([link removed]) on the “Inside the NBA” graphic.
* Semafor’s Max Tani with “How the Fox News hawks got back in Trump’s good graces.” ([link removed])
* The Guardian’s Mark Sweney with “BBC News to bear deepest cuts amid 2,000 planned job losses.” ([link removed])
* Correction: In Monday’s newsletter, I wrote that CNN commentator Scott Jennings was on last Friday’s “NewsNight,” a day after yelling at a fellow panelist. Jennings did not appear on “NewsNight” on Friday, but he was on CNN earlier in the day.


** More resources for journalists
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* Learn from trusted experts how to create vertical videos that reach and engage your audience. Enroll now ([link removed]) .

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

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