Four 91探花 alumni won Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of major news, including three for their efforts to cover the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol building.
Matt Zapotosky, BSJ 鈥08, is a former editor of the Post at 91探花 who now covers the U.S. Department of Justice for the Washington Post. He was part of the team that won the Pulitzer for 鈥.鈥 Zapotosky and colleague Devlin Barrett wrote a story detailing that an FBI office in Virginia warned that 鈥渆xtremists were preparing to travel to Washington to commit violence and 鈥榳ar,鈥 a warning that came the day before the riots.
鈥淥ur contribution to that package was basically just doing our jobs, scrutinizing the FBI,鈥 Zapotosky said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really nice. We don鈥檛 do the work to win a prize, but it鈥檚 nice to have people recognize you for just doing the work.鈥
Another alumnus, Amanda Voisard, BSVC 鈥02, took photos inside the Capitol during the riots for the Post and was included in the award. And another photographer, Drew Angerer, BSVC 鈥12, and a team of colleagues from Getty Images won in the Breaking News Photography category for 鈥 of the attack on the U.S. Capitol.鈥
Marcus Yam of the Los Angeles Times won a Breaking News Photography Pulitzer for his 鈥 of the U.S. departure from Afghanistan that capture the human cost of the historic change in the country.鈥 Yam, a non-degree alumnus of the Scripps College of Communication, has been part of two previous Pulitzer-winning teams.
Yam traveled to Afghanistan just before America鈥檚 withdrawal from the country and stayed for two months, . His report documented the departure of American troops, the rise of the Taliban, and the suffering caused in the country.
鈥淚n August 2021, I arrived in a fear-gripped Kabul. The Taliban was approaching the Afghan capital quickly. I decided to remain behind, even as other western publications were pulling out their journalist, in order to do the work I believed in: My lens was focused on Kabul residents鈥 fear, loss and betrayal,鈥 Yam said via email after the win. 鈥淒ocumenting the fall of Afghanistan was one of the most challenging stories I鈥檝e covered in my career. Navigating instability, trauma, sensitivity, violence and security all at the same time was difficult. The loss suffered by the Afghans is insurmountable and encapsulating that same loss in a series of photographs for our readers was equally as tough.鈥
Scripps College of Communication alumni, especially in the School of Visual Communication and the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, have a long history of winning journalism awards at the highest level. Since 1976, 84 alumni, students and faculty have won or contributed to teams that won at least 55 Pulitzer Prizes.
鈥淚 am inspired to see our alumni recognized for their brave and important work of documenting the world鈥檚 stories,鈥 said Dean Scott Titsworth. 鈥淎ll of our alumni do amazing work, but seeing these individuals rise to this level of recognition is certainly exciting for all of us in the OHIO Scripps community.鈥
Zapotosky said the skills he learned at OHIO put him on the right course.
鈥淚n a lot of ways, I really learned how to be a journalist at the Post at OU. That鈥檚 where I learned how to report, how to knock on people鈥檚 doors, how to hold university folks and city folks to account,鈥 he said, adding that he鈥檚 gotten to know or work with other alumni who have won Pulitzers. 鈥淥U is just instrumental in shaping me as a journalist.鈥
Yam, too, said he learned how to knock on doors and gain the trust of strangers while studying at OHIO.
鈥淚 learned how to knock on doors, introduce myself to strangers, walk into fascinating worlds; from a tight-knit community of Shade, Ohio, to the Amish who maintained a phone booth inside a refrigerator placed in the middle of the woods,鈥 Yam said. 鈥淚 did not have a photography background before I started this career. I enrolled because I wanted and needed to accelerate my learning and understand of the craft. VISCOM and its faculty were crucial to my growth as a photojournalist.鈥
While the Pulitzer recognition is gratifying, Zapotosky said he didn鈥檛 get into the business for accolades.
鈥淲e go into this business not because we鈥檙e looking to get the most clicks on a story or get the most conversions by making subscribers out of people,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e go into it because we think there鈥檚 a higher mission here.鈥
Yam agreed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible honor to have your work recognized by the Pulitzer awards, it helps bring honor and recognition to the institutions that supported you, and a critical spotlight on the historic change in Afghanistan, and what it means for Afghans. More important now seeing as how quickly the news cycle moves on,鈥 he said. 鈥淎fter the Pulitzer announcements, I woke up the next day feeling the same way I did after the first two Pulitzers: I collected my gratitude, thanked everyone who had a hand in my career, and I desperately wanted to get back to work, back on the road.鈥