Winning the Pulitzer Prize:
The Voice of the Underdog

Columnist
Connie Schultz speaks at The City Club of Cleveland.

 

CLEVELAND, OH—Connie Schultz, columnist for The Plain Dealer, will speak about being
awarded the Pulitzer Prize at noon on Wednesday, April 27,
2005, at The City Club of
Cleveland. She will be joined by The Plain Dealer deputy features editor (and
her writing coach) Stuart Warner, editor Doug Clifton and managing editor Tom
O’Hara.

 

On April 5, 2005, Connie Schultz, who was a
freelance writer for 15 years before joining newspaper in 1993, was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for commentary for her “pungent columns that provided a voice for
the underdog and underprivileged.� It’s the first time in more than 50 years
that the Plain Dealer has won this prestigious award in journalism and its
first-ever in writing.

 

Schultz and her colleagues will
explore the following questions: How do you produce Pulitzer Prize-winning
columns and stories? What does the recognition mean for the newspaper? How does
it change the tone of the newsroom?

 

Her winning 10 entries included
commentaries on Issue 1, which barred gay marriage; an Iraqi war veteran
honoring her fallen comrades; voting rights; a Cleveland television anchorwoman
participating in a nude photo shoot; and restaurant managers confiscating tips
intended for coat-check workers.

 

Schultz told The Plain Dealer after her win, “I think I
write about things that need to be said. And I think I write about things that
need to be said for people who don’t get a chance to say
them.�

 

This special program is co-sponsored
by the Society of Professional Journalists, Cleveland Chapter, and the Press
Club of Cleveland.

 

Tickets for this City Club Special
Program are $15 for members and $25 for non-members. Lunch is included.
Reservations are required at least 24 hours in advance. They can be purchased by
calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at
www.cityclub.org.

 

Established in
1912 to encourage new ideas and a free exchange of thought, The City Club of
Cleveland is the oldest continuous free speech forum in the country, renowned
for its tradition of debate and discussion. The City Club’s mission is to
inform, educate and inspire citizens by presenting significant ideas and
providing opportunities for dialogue in a collegial
setting.

 

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