Pulitzer's Gold is a book tracing the century-long history of the coveted Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, and telling backstories of the winning journalism. The prize, which recognizes some of the media's greatest achievements, is awarded annually to a news organization rather than to individuals, and takes the form of the Joseph Pulitzer Gold Medal. In January 2016 Columbia University Press brought out Pulitzer's Gold in a new edition, with the subtitle A Century of Public Service Journalism, to spotlight the Pulitzer Prize centennial year. The book was a featured part of the centennial, starting when the Pulitzer Prizes initiated its new website with a link to the first chapter. This edition is also available as an e-book.

Pulitzer's Gold is written by veteran journalist Roy Harris, whose career includes 24 years with The Wall Street Journal, and another 14 in the Economist Group organization. He has been studying and writing about the Pulitzer Prizes since 2002, including as a contributor to the Poynter.org journalism website.

Bob Woodward, who calls Harris “the master historian of the Pulitzer Prize,” says: “He has written the real inside story of the most serious journalism of the last century, and as a result provided a brilliant portrait of America.” And former Pulitzer Prize Administrator Sig Gissler says Pulitzer's Gold is “a deeply researched, richly anecdotal and faithfully inspirational chronicle of how relentless journalists, over the last 100 years, have exposed a remarkable assortment of ills and abuses to make the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service the global standard for excellence.”

In 2009, C-Span aired a discussion about Pulitzer’s Gold between Roy Harris and journalists Sacha Pfeiffer, of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team, and Elizabeth Mehren, then of the Los Angeles Times.
Diane Rehm’s popular author-interview show also featured Harris in January 2008.

Newspaper legend Gene Roberts calls it "a must-read for those who want an inside look at journalism at its best.” Added the late Jeff Zaslow, whose books included the best-selling The Last Lecture, co-authored with Randy Pausch: “Pulitzer's Gold is a goldmine of inspiration for both journalists and non-journalists [that] offers marvelous storytelling, real-life adventures, and absolute proof that journalism can change our world for the better.”

A 2018 Journalism History magazine review of the latest Pulitzer’s Gold edition said that the prize Harris writes about “is even more important today, a period in which accusations of 'fake news’ are undermining the credibility of the media, than in 1918 when it was first awarded.”

Harvard University's prestigious Nieman Reports says of the book: “Pulitzer's Gold is a newshound's 'story behind the story.' It's all about the people who made great news and who made the news business great. It is loaded with the Aha! moments that make us, as journalists, glad we passed up the big-bucks MBA track to try to save the world instead.”

An authorized Chinese language edition of Pulitzer’s Gold was published in China in 2010.
The title of the edition translates as: “Reporter with the Truth.”

For information, contact Author: Roy J. Harris Jr.
royjharrisjr@gmail.com 781-740-3114