I’m a nobody. I’m sure there are plenty of you who know a lot more about how this works than I do. Heck, I would wager that at least a couple of you reading this have won one yourselves. But allow me, with an inappropriate but irresistible Crimean wartime metaphor, to lead the charge. The Daily Kos staff deserves the Pulitzer Prize for their ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine.
Time and again in the comments of the Daily Kos war coverage, people write that Daily Kos is not just their favorite or goto site to follow what is happening in the war, it is the only site with up-to-date, reliable and illuminating coverage. Many suggest that other news organizations ought to be coming here for guidance on their reporting or, to put it in layman’s terms, they ought to be stealing every article about the war that gets posted here.
There is a prejudice in the journalistic community against internet sites that compile news from other sources and do little more than offer links, just as there is a prejudice against news sites that favor the far reaches of one political perspective. Heck, there is still a prejudice against the internet, period. But, as history unfolds before our eyes, what Daily Kos is accomplishing with its daily updates and analysis of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine rises above these biases. Just ask those commenters.
I lived in a small, almost rural town for about a year when I was extremely young. Even then, I had the impression of how simple and basic life there was compared to the more densely populated suburban communities and I had lived in previously and would soon return to settle for my formative years. But a couple of decades later, the newspaper in that town won the Pulitzer for the comprehensive coverage of an event, when a volcano went off in their backyard. Their staff rose to the level of professionalism that such coverage required, and sustained it to explain what had happened, what the impact was on their community, and to present the immediate, human viewpoints and experiences that could later serve as a starting place for others working on histories of the event. That is precisely what Daily Kos is achieving.
The Daily Kos reportage is exceptional journalism. The staff is breathlessly but thoroughly researching every story that is posted. Yes, they are not going out in the field, where most Pulitzers are earned, but the scope and speed with which they are compiling and disseminating the combination of other reporting and raw, armchair research to create a comprehensive and clear explanation of what is happening in the war is truly outstanding.
No other news outlet, internet site or reporting staff anywhere is achieving anything close to the illumination and understanding that Daily Kos is providing, day in and day out, and even hour by hour. What’s more, it is an exciting read. As much as it is thrilling to learn of the battles, the tactics and the various incidents that are occuring, or to be given clarity regarding the personalities, cultures, and mechanisms, physical and political, that are involved, it is thrilling to see Daily Kos itself deliver these enlightenments again and again and again. Not only have they achieved a level of journalism deserving of the Pulitzer Prize, but they have demonstrated that internet sites can provide a unique and valid source for reporting that no other journalism structure can match.
This is where the rest of you come in, because you know more about it than I do. The Pulitzer website www.pulitzer.org/… explains in general how the nominations work, but the specific instructions for 2022 have not been updated: https://entrysite.pulitzer.org.
Daily Kos clearly qualifies for the following:
For a distinguished example of local, state or national reporting of breaking news that, as quickly as possible, captures events accurately as they occur, and, as time passes, illuminates, provides context and expands upon the initial coverage
So if somebody, or everybody, could bombard the Pulitzer Prize Board with an appropriately constructed nomination, or several, we could not only pay back Daily Kos for the many rewarding satisfactions it has provided, but also bring the needed attention that this site so wholeheartedly deserves, so that its glory will not fade.