Center-Supported Projects Win Pulitzer Prize, Peabody, and More

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Impactful and Innovative Journalism Gaining Recognition

It’s award season in journalism, and while the Pulitzer Center defines our impact beyond awards—including policy changes and community-led solutions—we are excited to share recent wins and nominations that demonstrate innovative and impactful approaches to storytelling by our grantees and partners.

Last week, the third season of The New Yorker’s podcast In the Dark won a Pulitzer Prize in Audio Reporting and a Peabody Award in Podcast & Radio. Hailed as “relentless,” Pulitzer Center grantee Madeleine Baran’s investigation revisited the 2005 massacre of civilians by U.S. Marines in Haditha, Iraq. The project led to an official inquiry by U.S. lawmakers into how war crimes are prosecuted. “The outstanding quality of the reporting sets a new standard for investigative journalism … it casts a new optimism on accountability stories that aim to tackle ‘closed’ and 'difficult' cases,” says Pulitzer Center Digital Content Coordinator Alexandra Waddell.

Beyond their unrelenting pursuit of the facts, our grantees are being recognized for innovative approaches to storytelling that deepen understanding and engage audiences in new ways. This year, Center-supported projects made up three of nine nominees in the One World Media Awards “Innovative Storytelling” category.

One of those finalists is Breaking the Nets, a series by The Wire about the lives of India’s often-overlooked fisherwomen. The project has been nominated for solutions reporting and regional reporting awards, and this week won a major international accolade in immersive storytelling from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA). “We’re overjoyed that the fisherwomen’s voices and resilience has found recognition on a global stage,” said grantee Monica Jha.

Interoceanic Corridor: A Story of Imposition, Dispossession, and Violence is nominated for a Sigma Award in data journalism, along with recognition for innovation. The investigation exposes how Mexico’s Interoceanic Corridor—a mega-development project pitched as a Mexican alternative to the Panama Canal—threatens Indigenous land, ecosystems, and livelihoods.

Don’t miss more Pulitzer Center-supported award season stand-outs: a multimedia series on ride hailing apps in the Philippines; a podcast on Iran’s quelling of its citizens’ dissent abroad; Unsettled, a series about how Inuit are adapting to climate change; and Death Flights, an investigation that identified 67 clandestine airstrips used for drug trafficking and contributing to deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. Check out our latest resources for breakdowns on how our supported journalists are carving new paths to tell their stories.

Stories like these wouldn’t happen without your support. Consider making a donation to support more impactful storytelling made possible by the Pulitzer Center.

Best,

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Impact

This year, the 2025 Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Contest received a record-breaking 1,850 entries. The contest asks: How can journalism and poetry help us make connections between global issues and our local and personal contexts? Students are invited to explore these questions and make their voices heard.

To celebrate National Poetry Month in April, WBEZ Chicago invited some of our contest winners in the Chicago area to go on air. Piper Sobel, a high school freshman, shared her poem, which placed third last year in the Information and Artificial Intelligence category. Sobel was inspired by “Tik Tok: Companies Are Selling AI Therapy. Should You Buy It?,” a Center-supported story by Ben Rein, which taught her how AI cannot fully understand human emotions. You can listen to her interview here.

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This message first appeared in the May 16, 2025, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.

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