FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Sabina Lee, [email protected] or (212) 854-5579
Nancy Barnes
New York, NY (Nov. 9, 2017) – Nancy Barnes, editor and executive vice president of the Houston Chronicle since October 2013, has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize Board, Columbia University announced today.
“The Pulitzer Prize has long been considered the gold standard of excellence in journalism and the arts,” Barnes said. “It is a privilege and honor, truly, to be asked to serve on the board and contribute to its work celebrating story telling, free speech and journalism that makes a difference.”
Under her leadership, the Chronicle won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2015 for groundbreaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and uncovered other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems.
The Chronicle was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service in 2017 for a series on arbitrary cost-cutting by Texas state officials that denied tens of thousands of students access to special education services. The stories took top honors in seven other national awards, including a George Polk Award for Education Reporting and the Selden Ring Award for Investigative Reporting. In addition, the Chronicle's Joe Holley and Evan Mintz were finalists for the 2017 Pulitzer in Editorial Writing for their editorials on gun laws, gun culture and gun tragedies.
The Chronicle is the largest newspaper in Texas by print circulation and has a large daily digital footprint across two websites (www.chron.com and www.houstonchronicle.com), mobile platforms and social media.
Prior to joining the Chronicle, Barnes was editor and senior vice president of Star Tribune Media Co., LLC in Minneapolis for six and a half years, where she oversaw news reporting and content across all platforms. Under her leadership, the Star Tribune won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Local News for stories about infant deaths at poorly regulated day care homes, two Gerald Loeb Awards for business reporting, the National Edward R. Murrow award for overall excellence, and other awards. Barnes joined the Star Tribune in 2003 as an assistant managing editor for business news and was promoted in 2005 to deputy managing editor overseeing news and investigations.
She also spent 10 years as an editor in various roles for the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. and was a reporter for several newspapers from Massachusetts to Virginia. Barnes is the vice president of the American Society of News Editors. She holds an undergraduate degree in international affairs from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of North Carolina.
The Pulitzer Prizes were established by Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-American journalist and newspaper publisher, who left money to Columbia University upon his death in 1911. A portion of his bequest was used to found the School of Journalism in 1912 and establish the Pulitzer Prizes, which were first awarded in 1917.
The 19-member Pulitzer Board is composed mainly of leading journalists or news executives from media outlets across the U.S., as well as five academics or persons in the arts. The dean of Columbia's journalism school and the administrator of the prizes are nonvoting members. The chair rotates annually to the most senior member or members. The board is self-perpetuating in the election of members. Voting members may serve three terms of three years for a total of nine years.
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