Citizen Journalism Takes Step Forward, Pulitzer Prizes Expands to Online Journalism

December 8, 2008 is a historical date in regards to the Pulitzer Prizes. The organization is now expanding to include Internet-only news media outlets.

Today on December 8, 2008, it could very well be the start to the stronger growth of online journalism and online citizen journalism. The Pulitzer Prize is an American award which is considered to be the highest national honor in the following categories: newspaper journalism, literary achievements and musical composition. Columbia University in New York City, New York is in charge of administering the Pulitzer Prize. Overall, the Pulitzer Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in written media. However, this only applied to print media. Today, the Pulitzer Prizes in journalism has expanded towards text-based newspapers and new organizations that are Internet-only. That means stories that are only posted online. Online news entries will be eligible to be in all fourteen categories of Pulitzer Prize journalism. The fourteen categories are: Public Service, Breaking News Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Explanatory Reporting, Local Reporting, National Reporting, International Reporting, Feature Writing, Commentary, Criticism, Editorial Writing, Editorial Cartooning, Breaking News Photography, and Feature Photography. Winners of each category get awarded a certificate along with $10,000. Gold medals are usually awarded to newspapers in regards to the journalism category of public service. So far, Internet-only news media is now eligible for the Pulitzer Prizes. This is the start of one giant step for online media and citizen journalism. However, the Board members have stressed that all entered material come from news sources that public weekly at least.