Introducing the Pulitzer Center’s Five Focus Areas

In September, the Pulitzer Center announced a new mission statement: to champion the power of stories to make complex issues relevant and inspire action. With our new mission came a new strategic framework, and $30 million in funding support to achieve our vision.

As the next phase of implementation of our strategic framework and vision, the Pulitzer Center is pleased to introduce five broad focus areas that will ensure our commitment to achieving impact through our journalism and engagement programs in the years ahead.

These focus areas will help communicate, guide, and set our priorities for the types of journalism projects we support—and the strategies we deploy to engage diverse audiences around the world with Pulitzer Center reporting. Within each area, we will focus on in-depth, high-impact reporting on urgent and underreported issues paired with intentional audience engagement that bridges divides and inspires action. 

OUR FOCUS AREAS
 

 

Each focus area includes stories arranged by topic, grant and fellowship opportunities for journalists, public events, education resources, recent impact, and other ways to engage with our work. Explore our five focus areas here.

1. Climate and Environment: Fueled by initiatives like our Rainforest Investigations Network and Ocean Reporting Network, this focus area emphasizes topics from rainforest deforestation to ocean health, uncovering threats while highlighting the people pushing for solutions.
   Topics: Rainforests, Ocean, Environment and Climate Change, Pollution, Extractive Industries, Land Rights 
    
2. Global Health: The Pulitzer Center’s Global Health initiative examines inequities in health access, including food, water, vaccines, and mental health care. We also cover the change-makers filling those gaps through scientific breakthroughs and community-centered care.
   Topics: Health Inequities, COVID-19, Mental Health, Food, Water and Sanitation, Health Science, Outbreaks and Epidemics 
    
3. Peace and Conflict: We believe reporting on global conflicts and their effects should be sustained and thoughtful. Our reporting goes deeper than the headlines, probing what drives conflict and exploring pathways to peace. 
   Topics: War and Conflict, Peace Initiatives 
    
4. Human Rights: Our coverage of human rights exposes violations, spotlights human rights defenders, and amplifies voices of marginalized communities—from racial justice to criminal justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, Indigenous rights, and more.
   Topics: Indigenous Rights, Gender Equality, Racial Justice, Migration and Refugees, LGBTQ+ Rights, Criminal Justice, Children and Youth, Labor Rights, Religion, Democracy and Authoritarianism 
    
5. Information and Artificial Intelligence: Every day, algorithms are involved in potentially life-changing decisions for millions of people. The Pulitzer Center is committed to reporting on the latest technologies, how those systems work, who benefits from them, and who is harmed. This focus area includes reporting from our collaborative and cross-border AI Accountability Network.
   Topics: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Accountability, Misinformation and Disinformation, Technology and Society 

REPORTING GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS

Journalists and editors should also take note that we have relaunched our grants and fellowships web page, with the goal of making open opportunities with the Pulitzer Center more accessible and clear for journalists and newsroom partners. Here, you will find descriptions of our grant and fellowship programs, along with links to grants and resources organized by theme and region. We continue to emphasize the audience engagement aspect of the Pulitzer Center model in our calls for proposals.

We have also launched a new Transparency and Governance initiative and reporting grant—a cross-cutting theme in our work across all five focus areas. Under the Transparency and Governance initiative, we seek to support investigations that follow the money across borders; shed light on opaque and harmful supply chains; and investigate the systems, organizations, and people that enable corruption.

Explore our 2023 annual report to learn more about the impact we have achieved together over the past year. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the months ahead. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed on our work.