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The 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Audio Reporting
For a distinguished example of audio journalism that serves the public interest, characterized by revelatory reporting and illuminating storytelling, Fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000).

Staff of This American Life with Molly O'Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News

For “The Out Crowd,” revelatory, intimate journalism that illuminates the personal impact of the Trump Administration’s “Remain in Mexico” policy.

Emily Green, Molly O'Toole and This American Life staff member Nadia Reiman accept the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting from Columbia University President Lee Bollinger. (Jose Lopez/The Pulitzer Prizes)

Winning Work

Biography

Molly O’Toole is an immigration and security reporter based in the Los Angeles Times’ Washington, D.C., bureau. Previously, she was a senior reporter at Foreign Policy covering the 2016 election and Trump administration, and a politics reporter at the Atlantic’s Defense One. She has covered migration and security from Mexico, Central America, West Africa, the Middle East, the Gulf, and South Asia. She is a graduate of Cornell University and NYU, but will always be a Californian.

Emily Green is a Mexico City-based journalist reporting on Mexico and Central America. She has reported on a wide range of topics, everything from the impact of President Trump's "zero tolerance" policy for undocumented immigrants in Central America to the explosion of cartel violence in Baja California and the growing passion for mixed martial arts (MMA) in Latin America. She works regularly in print and radio, with the occasional dive into video (check out her interview with Colombian band Bomba Estereo). Once she landed on YouTube after asking Mexico’s president what he was going to do about corruption by immigration officials. She started her journalism career in the Philippines on a Fulbright fellowship, reporting on human rights abuses and the life-threatening dangers faced by local journalists. Emily worked as a legal affairs reporter in California for The Daily Journal newspaper from 2010 to 2015, and as the City Hall reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle from 2015 to 2017. In her free time, Emily goes dancing as much as possible and hopes to moonlight as a backup dancer in reggaeton videos.

Finalists

Nominated as finalists in Audio Reporting in 2020:

Andrew Beck Grace, Chip Brantley, Graham Smith, Nicole Beemsterboer and Robert Little of NPR

For “White Lies,” a riveting seven-episode podcast that doggedly reinvestigated one of the most infamous murders of the Civil Rights era.

Nigel Poor, Earlonne Woods and Rahsaan Thomas

For “Ear Hustle,” a consistently surprising and beautifully crafted series on life behind bars produced by inmates of San Quentin State Prison.

The Jury

Raney Aronson(Chair)

Executive Producer, Frontline

Daniel Alarcón

Executive Producer, Radio Ambulante; Assistant Professor of Journalism, Columbia University

Adam Davidson

CEO, Three Uncanny Four; Contributing Writer, The New Yorker

Sarah Koenig

Host/Co-Creator, Serial

Michele Norris

Contributing Columnist, The Washington Post; Former Host, All Things Considered

Joe Richman

Founder/Executive Producer, Radio Diaries

Jim Schachter

President/CEO, New Hampshire Public Radio

2020 Prize Winners

Commentary

Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times

For a sweeping, provocative and personal essay for the ground-breaking 1619 Project, which seeks to place the enslavement of Africans at the center of America’s story, prompting public conversation about the nation’s founding and evolution.
Criticism

Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times

For work demonstrating extraordinary community service by a critic, applying his expertise and enterprise to critique a proposed overhaul of the L.A. County Museum of Art and its effect on the institution’s mission.
See All 2020 Winners