Fact Check: The Pulitzer Prize Board's 2018 awards were based on discredited reporting.

Fact Check: "The Pulitzer Prize Board's 2018 awards were based on discredited reporting."

What We Know

The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their extensive coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and its connections to Donald Trump's campaign. Following these awards, former President Trump has repeatedly claimed that the reporting was based on "false reporting of a nonexistent link between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign" (source-1). In response to Trump's appeals to rescind the awards, the Pulitzer Board conducted two independent reviews of the reporting. Both reviews concluded that "no passages or headlines, contentions or assertions in any of the winning submissions were discredited by facts that emerged subsequent to the conferral of the prizes" (source-2).

The board emphasized that the reviews were conducted by individuals with no connections to the institutions involved, ensuring impartiality (source-1). The winning entries included a comprehensive examination of Russian interference and its implications, which were deemed to have "dramatically furthered the nation's understanding" of the issue (source-2).

Analysis

The claim that the Pulitzer Prize Board's 2018 awards were based on discredited reporting lacks substantiation. The board's decision to uphold the awards was backed by two independent reviews that found no factual inaccuracies in the reporting that would warrant rescinding the prizes (source-1). Trump's assertions stem from his dissatisfaction with the implications of the reporting, particularly following the release of the Mueller report, which did not establish a conspiracy between his campaign and Russia but did not exonerate him from potential obstruction of justice (source-2).

While some sources have critiqued the Pulitzer Board's decisions and suggested that the reporting was biased or inaccurate (source-5), these critiques do not provide evidence that the reporting was discredited. Furthermore, claims made in the context of ongoing litigation, such as Trump's defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Board, should be viewed with caution due to potential biases (source-3).

The Pulitzer Board's rigorous review process and the independence of the reviewers lend credibility to their findings. Therefore, the assertion that the awards were based on discredited reporting is not supported by the evidence available.

Conclusion

Verdict: False
The claim that the Pulitzer Prize Board's 2018 awards were based on discredited reporting is false. The board conducted independent reviews that confirmed the integrity of the reporting, stating that no factual inaccuracies emerged that would discredit the awarded work. Trump's objections appear to be rooted in his personal grievances regarding the implications of the reporting rather than substantiated claims of inaccuracy.

Fact Check: The Pulitzer Prize Board's 2018 awards were based on discredited reporting.