Discovering the Explanatory Report in American Newspapers

Abstract This study of the explanatory report attempts to make a meaningful contribution to the history of the American newspaper by synthesizing existing historical knowledge of the form, documenting the history of the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism, and analyzing the explanatory reports that have won the Pulitzer Prize in this category. This study also offers insights from that history to suggest how newspapers in America might improve their products in the service of democracy. A fundamental strategy, as demonstrated in the exemplary reports identified by the Pulitzer juries, is the greater use of storytelling in explanatory journalism. Such a change might help increase readership and better serve the mandate of the American press to strengthen democracy through fostering discourse in the public sphere. Keywords: American newspaperexplanatory reportnarrativePulitzer Prize Notes 1. Edward Kliment has worked in the Pulitzer Prize office since 1982 and has served as deputy administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes since 1994. Although Board minutes are not available for review, Kliment indicated that the minutes in question, while documenting the Board's approval of the amendments, do not provide any additional information about the specific evolution of the explanatory category. 2. Seymour Topping served as administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes from 1993 to 2002. The managing editor of the New York Times from 1977 to 1986, Topping has been the SanPaolo Professor of International Journalism at Columbia since 1994. 3. For example, in contest year 1996, only the commentary (199) category received more entries than explanatory (181). In contrast, national reporting received 54 entries while international received 45. The total number of entries in all 14 journalism categories in the same year was 1484. Figures provided by Edward Kliment (personal communication, 21 August 2003). 4. The number of explanatory entries in 1996 was 181, 152 in 1997, and 180 in 1998. The average number of explanatory entries in the five-year period from 1999 to 2003 is 147. Figures provided by Edward Kliment (personal communications, 19 and 21 August 2003). 5. Laurie Garrett won the 1996 Pulitzer in Explanatory Journalism for her day-by-day reporting from Zaire of the Ebola outbreak. 6. There are 13 single-author winners in all: Jon Franklin of the Baltimore Evening Sun in 1985 for his seven-part series on gene therapy, “The Mind Fixers” (Franklin, 1984); David Hanners of the Dallas Morning News in 1989 for a special report on a 1985 airplane crash, “The Final Flight of 50 Sierra Kilo” in the series “Anatomy of an Air Crash” (Hanner, 1988); Susan Faludi of the Wall Street Journal in 1991 for a report on the buy-out of Safeway Stores and the human cost, “The Reckoning: Safeway LBO yields vast profits but exacts a heavy human toll” (Faludi, 1990); Mike Toner of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1993 for a series on the diminishing effectiveness of antibiotics and pesticides, “When Bugs Fight Back: first in an occasional series” (Atlanta Journal Constitution, 23 August 1992, p. A1); Ronald Kotulak of the Chicago Tribune in 1994 for his reports on neurological science, “Unlocking the Mind: Roots of Violence” in the series “Tracking Down the Monster Within Us” (Chicago Tribune, 12 December 1993, p. C1); Leon Dash of The Washington Post in 1995 for a profile of a Washington DC family's struggles with poverty, “A Difficult Journey: from rural hardships to urban adversity” in the series “Rosa Lee's Story: poverty and survival in Washington” (The Washington Post, 18 September 1994, p. A1); Laurie Garrett of Newsday in 1996 for her reportage from Zaire about the Ebola virus outbreak, “Deadly Virus Strikes in 2nd African City, Said to Be Ebola Strain” (Garrett, Citation1995); Michael Vitez of the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1997 for a series on critically ill patients seeking to die with dignity, “Families in Agony on When to Let Go” in the series “Final Choices: seeking the good death” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 17 November 1996, p. A1); Paul Salopek of the Chicago Tribune in 1998 for his profile of the Human Genome Diversity Project, “Basically, We Are All the Same” (Chicago Tribune, 27 April 1997); Richard Read of The Oregonian in 1999 for his profile on french fries illustrating the domestic impact of the Asian economic crisis, “The French Fry Connection” (Read, 1998); Eric Newhouse of the Great Falls Tribune in 2000 for his series on alcohol abuse and its effects on community, “Alcohol: flowing through our daily lives” in the series “Alcohol: cradle to grave” (Great Falls Tribune, 31 January 1999); Gareth Cook of The Boston Globe in 2005 for his series on stem cell research, “After Two Children via IVF, Pair Faced Stem Cell Issue” (Boston Globe, 4 April 2004); and David Finkel of The Washington Post in 2006 for his series on US foreign policy in Yemen, “U.S. Ideals Meet Reality in Yemen” (The Washington Post, 18 December 2005, p. A1). See the Pulitzer Prize website to access a list of winners per category: http://www.pulitzer.org. Complete article text is available for years 1995–2006; electronic database and microfilm searches produced article text for other articles examined in detail. 7. Ronald Kotulak's 1994 and Laurie Garrett's 1996 explanatory Pulitzer reportage. In the latter articles in her series on the Ebola virus, Garrett interestingly makes effective and compelling use of narrative strategies. 8. This study uses the category economics as an umbrella concept, including stories about corporate scandal, financial institutions, and economic systems. 9. One barometer of this growth is the explosion of newspaper science sections, an evolution led by the New York Times's institution of its successful and comprehensive “Science Times” section in 1978 (see Jerome, Citation1986; Rogers, Citation1986). The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) has expanded in pace with media coverage of science, growing from 113 members in 1950 to 830 in 1970 to 1200 in 1986 (see Nelkin, 1995, pp. 169–70). Today, the NASW claims a membership of more than 2000 (National Association of Science Writers Brochure, National Association of Science Writers, Inc., 1998, accessed 15 April 2003; available from http://nasw.org./brochure.htm; and Nelkin, 1995, pp. 169–70). At least 49 colleges and universities in the United States have in recent years introduced programs or courses for science (including medical, environmental, and technical) journalists or writers (see National Directory of Science Communication Courses and Programs, University of Wisconsin, current as of 2000, PDF file provided by Sharon Dunwoody, 7 January 2004).