You, too, can be nominated for a Pulitzer -- if you have $50

I worked in the book business for about three decades and don't know of any publisher who submitted a book for an award, including the Pulitzer, the Booker Mann or up here the Governor General's who claimed their entry constituted a nomination for said award.

And I know that if anybody in a publicity department claimed that, they'd be called on to the carpet.

 

Oh, yes, no one in the honorable profession of book publishing would pull such a stunt.

One example:

http://tinyurl.com/komrzg

"The book was just recently nominated by its publisher, Yale University Press, to receive the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the category of United States History. ... Reacting to news of the nomination, Malcolm said, 'I am honored and delighted that Peter’s War has been nominated for this prize.'"

That sort of tripe from publishers and authors gets into print all the time. Spend a few minutes searching, and you can find 50 recent examples.

 

I saw a reporter's bio once that said she was "a semi-finalist for the Pulitzer."

Apparently someone told her she almost made the cut of finalists, and that was good enough for her.

 

I work at the Biloxi Sun Herald, which shared the 2006 Gold Medal for Public Service, but I can't -- and rightfully shouldn't be able to -- call myself a Pulitzer winner.

 

A further clue:

Mr. Plaschke's bio at his alma mater, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, says, "In 2004, he was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize."

In other words, it appears to be part of his standard bio, and now we have a claim of a specific year, 2004, which we can check out.

http://www.siue.edu/alumni/aboutalumni/plaschkewilliam.shtml

Here's who the Pulitzer Prizes Web site lists as nominees in 2004 in commentary:

Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times
For his columns that, through rigorous reporting and powerful writing, often gave voice to forgotten people trapped in misery.

Cynthia Tucker of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For her forceful, persuasive columns that confronted sacred cows and hot topics with unswerving candor.

and the winner...

Leonard Pitts Jr., of The Miami Herald

http://www.pulitzer.org/finalists/2004

and

http://www.pulitzer.org/awards/2004

No Plaschke.

To claim to be a nominee, if you were not, is to steal another journalist's honor.

 

Well, let's get out the pitchforks and burning crosses, then.

 

There's some serious, serious bitterness on this board.

 

If true, it's a stain on Plaschke's reputation.

 

No, it's not.

The fact is, he was nominated for the Pulitzer, probably by his paper, and yeah, it only cost them $50. Now, of course, the Pulitizer committee says you can't claim to be nominated unless they make you a finalist, but the only people who know that are a very small set of journalists.

The average person sees "nominated for the Pulitizer" and processes it as exactly what it means: The man had a piece of work good enough to be entered in a contest and it didn't win. I believe we had a similar conversation around here a few years ago about Canzano's bio which basically said the same thing.

People around here need to grow up and lighten up.

 

And for all we know, he just got the year wrong. Maybe it was 2002, 2003 or 2005.

Not like a paper spending 50 bucks to submit your name is a milestone event that you'd never get fuzzy on. I'm happier and more likely to remember if I get reimbursed $50 in meal money.

 

The link you have isn't for nominees, it is for finalists.
And you assume that it is for commentary, but it could been for feature writing, or beat writing or a book, or, possibly, something else.
Hell, it could have been for breaking news, I don't exactly know Plaschke's bio by heart.
But, crapsticks, I worked on a project that was nominated for, but wasn't a finalist for the Pulitzer. I wouldn't include that in an bio about me.
Sounds like some in the publicity department at the LA Times was just went overboard.
That being said, I think Plaschke should be burned at the stake for it.

 

Nominees and finalists are the same thing. That's the point.

There's not such thing as "a project that was nominated for, but wasn't a finalist for the Pulitzer." You're either nominated (by the jury), which makes you a finalist, or you're not. Anything else is an entrant.

There's no such thing as "he was nominated for the Pulitzer, probably by his paper." Papers don't choose nominees.

That's what the Pulitzer committee says -- see the links at the beginning of the thread -- and that's the common public understanding.

If you tell people you were nominated for an Academy Award, the public will know that means you're a finalist. That's what "award nominee" means. Movie studios don't choose the Academy Award nominees, and your newspaper can't nominate you for a Pulitzer. It can enter your work in the contest.

If you were just an entrant, and you call yourself a nominee, you're a faker.