This American Life episode takes first Pulitzer for Audio Reporting

The Pulitzer Prizes, which honor excellence in journalism, announced that there would be a category for Audio Reporting in the 2020 ceremony. The winner for that inaugural prize was given to the staff of This American Life, along with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, a freelancer for Vice News. The group was recognized for the podcast episode titled “The Out Crowd,” which showed the impact of the “Remain in Mexico” policy of the Trump Administration.

The other two finalists for the Audio Reporting recognition. One was Ear Hustle, a podcast produced by inmates of the San Quentin State Prison. The program gained additional recognition as the winner of a contest run by PRX’s Radiotopia in 2016. One of the hosts had his sentence commuted at the start of 2019.

The other finalist was White Lies from NPR. The podcast investigates the murder of Reb. James Reeb in Selma, AL, in 1965 during the civil rights movemnt. A pair of Alabama journalists uncover the web of falsehoods that kept the case from being solved.