PULITZER PRIZE BOSS BOOTS JUDICIAL WATCH OUT OF CONTEST: Judicial Watch, the conservative non-profit government watchdog, has broken multiple major stories in the Hillary Clinton email and Benghazi terrorist attack scandals, but that doesn’t count, according to the administrator of journalism’s most sought-after award.
“Does the Pulitzer Prize have one standard for liberal non-profits that engage in journalism and a different one for conservative non-profits that also engage in journalism?” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton asked Pulitzer Prize Administrator Mike Pride in a March 14, 2016, email obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation Investigative Group.
Pride had claimed Judicial Watch is ineligible for the journalism award because it is a foundation devoted to “advocacy.” He apparently has not heard of groups like Inside Climate News, Pro Publica and Center for Public Integrity, which, like Judicial Watch, are 501(c)(3) foundations doing investigative journalism. Judges for the Pulitzer Prize have previously recognized Pro Publica with the award.
As it happens, Judicial Watch, which will be deposing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and several of her closest aides in the near future, employees Micah Morrison, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, and Lisette Garcia, formerly of the Los Angeles Times. Between them, they’ve been nominated for Pulitzers six times.
There is one huge difference between Judicial Watch and groups like Pro Publica, but it has nothing to do with advocacy. Judicial Watch combines veterans journalists like Morrison and Garcia with an aggressive staff of experienced attorneys who understand how to wield the Freedom of Information Act to force federal officials to cough up documents they would much prefer to keep behind closed doors.
Judging by the results, Judicial Watch may have demonstrated the model for the future of hard-hitting investigative journalism that puts the fear of God in the hearts of government officials who would otherwise continue their nefarious ways.