Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary

The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 to 2021.

History
Since 1922 the prize had been awarded for a distinguished editorial cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect.

Since 1980, finalists (usually two) have been announced in addition to the winner.

Only two comic strips have been awarded the prize: Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau in 1976 and Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed in 1987.

In 2021, with Ruben Bolling, Marty Two Bulls Sr, and Lalo Alcaraz the finalists, no winner was selected, which drew controversy. (The same thing happened in the category in 1923, 1936, 1960, 1965, and 1973, but it had not happened in 48 years, and it was the first time no winner was selected when the finalists' names had been made public.)

In 2022, the Editorial Cartooning prize was superseded by the revamped category of Illustrated Reporting and Commentary, In response, the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists "issued a statement calling for the Pulitzer board to reinstate Editorial Cartooning as its own category while also recognizing Illustrated Reporting as a separate form." They wrote: "'Editorial cartoons are quick, in-the-moment commentary, whose artists have to educate themselves on complex issues and craft well-informed opinions in a single take that emphasizes clarity under daily deadlines. Illustrated reporting, or comics journalism, takes days, weeks, or months to craft a story, which can run for pages, and which may or may not be presenting an opinion.'"

The 2022 award went to a work of comics journalism.

Repeat winners
Through 2017, eighteen people have won the Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer twice, and five of those have won it three times.

Nelson Harding is the only cartoonist to have won the prize in two consecutive years, 1927 and 1928.