Reporter shares Pulitzer Prizes ideas |
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When a Seattle toddler curiously picked up the magnet that was barely the size of a baby aspirin, he swallowed it without hesitation. The magnets had fallen out of his older brother’s toy without his mother’s knowledge. Instead of passing through his digestive system, the two magnets connected and cut through his intestines, causing irreparable damage. Kenny Sweet Jr. died a few days later. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which received complaints about the toys, did little. Then, Chicago Tribune reporter Patricia Callahan wrote a series of articles that led to the nationwide recall of more than 2.4 million toys and earned a Pulitzer Prize. Callahan told cherubs that a journalist needs patience, curiosity and persistence during her talk, “The Anatomy of a Pulitzer-Prize Winner.” Callahan said her series about dangerous toys started when she was buying a baby shower gift for a friend and couldn’t decide which one was the safest. “The pictures of her front-page article showed me that this little idea she had while talking to her friend can turn into a Pulitzer-Prize-winning piece,” said Alex Burness, of Chevy Chase, Md. “It reaffirmed my belief in journalism.” The advice she gave cherubs was to always start investigating with the question, “How can that be?” As an intern writing police briefs at the Chicago Tribune, she decided to investigate the deaths of three children that occurred in the same apartment building. During her spare time, she researched the apartment buildings that used improper window guards.
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“She had a really low job and she was able to investigate at a young age and was able to change the community and save those children,” Mansur said.
For cherubs like Lauren Hitt of Baltimore, Md., Callahan’s lecture showed that investigative journalism is hard work.
“It made it more real, the boxes and boxes of documents, driving six hours to talk to one woman,” she said. “Stories take months and years and it shows the motivation you have to have to be a self-starter.”
Lily Altavena, of Scottsdale, Ariz., said she was impressed by Callahan’s perseverance, even when toy company executives refused to answer her questions.
“She followed the story even though there were roadblocks,” she said. “An investigative journalist needs persistence to keep on sources and try to get the story to make a difference. That’s what investigative journalists do.”
Burness agreed that Callahan’s persistence was inspiring.
“She showed me that if you’re getting a tough story, you have to keep persisting and you have to always be curious,” he said. “Those qualities have served her well. She shed light on some major and important problems in the world.”
Cherubs found her speech inspiring because it showed the dedication to be an investigative journalist, but also how rewarding and powerful investigative stories can be.
“I cried because it was such a tragic story that could have been avoided,” Keelin O’Donoghue, of College Park, Md., said. “Her life had meaning because she exposed a problem that could save someone else’s life.”
Sarah Mansur said Callahan affirmed her dream of being an investigative journalist.
“I related to her well,” Mansur said. “You don’t have to be super aggressive or loud. Anybody can do it. You just have to have a passion for it.”