2022 Pulitzer Prize

The 2022 Pulitzer Prizes were awarded by the Pulitzer Prize Board for work during the 2021 calendar year on May 9, 2022. The awards highlighted coverage of major stories in the U.S. that year, including the January 6 United States Capitol attack, for which The Washington Post won the Public Service prize, considered the most prestigious award. The New York Times received three awards, the most of any publication. Insider received its first Pulitzer.

The Editorial Cartooning prize was superseded in 2022 by the revamped category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary. No winner was selected in the former category in 2021, which drew controversy.

Prizes
Winners and finalists for the prizes are listed below, with the winners marked in bold.

Special citation
A special citation was awarded to the journalists of Ukraine for their coverage of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The citation reads: "The Pulitzer Board awards a special citation to the journalists of Ukraine for their courage, endurance, and commitment to truthful reporting during Vladimir Putin's ruthless invasion of their country and his propaganda war in Russia. Despite bombardment, abductions, occupation, and even deaths in their ranks, they have persisted in their effort to provide an accurate picture of a terrible reality, doing honor to Ukraine and to journalists around the world."

Reception
Tom Jones of Poynter was unsurprised by the recognition of The New York Times and The Washington Post, which he described as "what seems like an annual rite of passage". He highlighted the success of local outlets such as the Tampa Bay Times and said Quanta Magazine 's win for explanatory reporting was "what might be the most unexpected — and again that doesn't mean undeserved — prize of the day". Of the process he wrote, "I'm struck by how the Pulitzer Prize judges took their responsibility with the utmost diligence — recognizing a wide array of outlets and journalists. And congratulations to the Pulitzer juries for trimming down each category to finalists that were as varied as they were strong." He called the omission of The Wall Street Journal 's Facebook Files a snub.

Remarking on the new category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, The Beat writer Heidi MacDonald said that the revamped category "says much about the state of media and cartooning", and "gives room to consider longer works... even on beyond to TikTok, in theory".

On May 11, 2022, two days after Pulitzer Prizes were awarded to The New York Times and Los Angeles Times photojournalist Marcus Yam for their coverage of the regime change in Afghanistan, The Diplomat published an article criticizing media coverage of the country and noted that violence was in fact rising in Afghanistan, stating "Afghanistan may have fallen out of international headlines, but violent trends are once again on the rise" and that there was currently "intense infighting between various Taliban factions and interests." Data collected by The Diplomat's affiliates at Afghan Peace Watch (APW) and Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) showed that violence in Afghanistan escalated between September 2021 and March 2022. The same day, American Prospect reporter Emran Feroz stated that "the War on Terror continues" and noted that foreign drones were still operating in the country.