The Pulitzer Prize Board announced a special citation Friday for people in Afghanistan who risked their safety to help produce news stories and images from their war-torn country. The Pulitzer citation comes with a $100,000 emergency relief grant to assist journalists in Afghanistan in either resettling or continuing their profession in a safe manner.
From staff and freelance correspondents to interpreters to drivers to hosts, courageous Afghan residents helped produce Pulitzer-winning and Pulitzer-worthy images and stories that have contributed to a wider understanding of profoundly tragic and complicated circumstances, the board said. The grant will be managed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organisation. The Pulitzer Board’s award came a day after a suicide strike at Kabul’s airport killed more than 90 civilians, including 13 US military personnel. The Western pullout and the swift Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have left thousands of people, including journalists, fearing retribution under the new regime. It’s critical in a moment of stark threat to support those Afghans whose bravery, skill, and commitment to the ideals of a free press have helped create so much important journalism in recent decades, said board co-chairs Katherine Boo, Gail Collins and John Daniszewski.
