Were Those the Days? Revisiting the Pulitzer-winning Efforts of Community Newspapers in the 1970s

Abstract

In the history of the Pulitzer Prize only 47 small daily and seven weekly newspapers have received the award. This study conducts a case study comparison using inductive, qualitative methods to understand what happened that allowed community journalists at three small newspapers to pursue journalism campaigns that were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in the 1970s. The study uses in-depth interviews with journalists and textual analysis of documents including prize-winning articles to explore how these stories were pursued. The findings are presented in a series of narratives.