Podcasts and radio shows will now officially be eligible to win Pulitzer Prizes in 2020

The Pulitzer board has announced that starting 2020, there will be a Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting, which includes radio and podcasts. “The renaissance of audio journalism in recent years has given rise to an extraordinary array of non-fiction storytelling. To recognise the best of that work, the Pulitzer Board is launching an experimental category to honour it,” Pulitzer administrator Dana Canedy has said. [caption id=“attachment_7750141” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Representational Image.[/caption] The board says that the prize will be awarded “for a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterised by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling”. US newspapers, magazines, wire services and online news sites that publish regularly, in addition to independent American producers and US radio broadcast outlets will be eligible to enter submissions.

It's official. Podcasts will be eligible to win Pulitzer Prizes in 2020. https://t.co/YHHG7A8GXK

— Nieman Foundation (@niemanfdn) December 6, 2019

Notably, though, Canedy says the new category for Audio Reporting is for the 2020 prize cycle and that it is “an experimental category” for now. This means, the category may or may not be continued after 2020. Audio Reporting will be the 15th journalism Pulitzer category; the last significant change for the prize was done in the year 2007 when a “Local Reporting” category replaced “Beat Reporting”. The same year, the Pulitzer board also opened submissions for online journalism in most categories. The Pulitzer submissions will open 16 December 2019 and close on 24 January 2020. The winners will be announced in April 2020.