Pulitzer Prize awarded to The New York Times raises questions about journalism standards

Winners of the Pulitzer Prizes, arguably the biggest prize in journalism, for 2023 were announced on Monday.

While these awards have been conferred since decades now, people have now questioned the credibility of the standard by which winners are selected.

Among the award receipts is The New York Times.

It won for its “wide-ranging and revelatory coverage of Hamas’s lethal attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7,” as well as reporting on “the Israeli military’s sweeping, deadly response.”

Critics of the award are saying that the past seven months has revealed the biased coverage of the platform, including the factually incorrect report claiming that Hamas members had raped Israelis on October 7 — an account which was later debunked.

Reuters meanwhile won the award for breaking news photography for its “raw and urgent” coverage of the October 7 attack and Israeli response, while a special citation recognized “journalists and media workers covering the war in Gaza.”

“This war has also claimed the lives of poets and writers,” the committee said. “As the Pulitzer Prizes honor categories of journalism, arts and letters, we mark the loss of invaluable records of the human experience.”

Ironically, the award ceremony took place at Columbia University, amidst the backlash that resulted after the Uni called in police to clear out pro-Palestinian protesters. The police largely blocked media from the scene and allegedly threatened student journalists covering the events with arrest.