The ‘People’s Pulitzers’ Salute Those Who Give Voice to the Powerless

The ‘People’s Pulitzers’ Salute Those Who Give Voice to the Powerless

The ‘People’s Pulitzers’ Salute Those Who Give Voice to the Powerless

The remarkable work of this year’s Hillman Prize winners is a timely reminder of the indispensable role of the free press in sustaining a democracy.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

American journalism is in crisis, under assault and literally disappearing in a growing number of news deserts across the country. The Justice Department has even eliminated a section on the “need for [a] free press” from its US Attorneys’ Manual. So, naturally, much of the Washington media establishment has rallied since the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner this weekend to condemn what it sees as a pressing problem: a comedian.

Although President Trump is only the latest in a long series of threats to a free and independent press, this is a particularly dangerous moment. Last week, a Quinnipiac University poll found that a majority of Republicans agree with the president’s description of the media as an “enemy of the people.” With the administration hollowing out federal agencies and transforming them into protectors of corporate special interests, public-interest journalism that exposes corruption and abuse while lifting the voices of the powerless has never been more important. It has also, arguably, never been harder to do.

Next week, at an awards ceremony in New York, the Sidney Hillman Foundation will honor a group of tenacious journalists who are doing vital work in the public interest with the annual Hillman Prize. Since 1950, the prize has been part of the wide-ranging legacy of legendary labor leader Sidney Hillman. The founding president of Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Hillman helped shape the New Deal as an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He also believed that a free press was essential to a fair and equal society and recognized that public-interest journalism can help instigate powerful movements for change, from the labor movement to Black Lives Matter. Referred to by some as the “People’s Pulitzers,” the Hillman Prizes are awarded annually to journalism that illuminates the great issues of our time, including civil rights, economic justice and the search for lasting peace.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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