This year sees the 100th birthday of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal. Awarded for excellence in the American news industry in the category for Public Service, the medal can only be won by an organisation, never an individual.
Established by the late newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer in 1917, the prizes are split into 21 categories covering journalism, education, arts and letters, and traveling scholarships. Each category’s winner receives $15,000 and a certificate, but the gold medal itself is presented to the American newspaper or publication that has illustrated ‘Excellence in newspaper journalism’.
Designed by Daniel Chester French, who was responsible for the ‘seated’ Lincoln Memorial sculpture in Washington, and Henry Augustus Lukeman, an associate of French, the gold medal has a diameter of two and three-quarter inches and a thickness of a quarter inch. Made from solid silver that has been plated with 24-carat gold, it is presented in a cherry wood box trimmed with brass. On one face of the medal is a depiction of Benjamin Franklin, and on the other a bare-chested printer working at a printing press. Around this side are the words,
“For disinterested and meritorious public service rendered by an American newspaper during the year [insert winning year].”
The winning news publication’s name is also engraved on the Benjamin Franklin side.
Here at H Cooper Glass Engravers, we have an extensive range of engraved awards and trophies suitable for all budding journalists and news organisations.
