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Photo: KEREM YUCEL / AFP
Her video documented the brutal police operation against the black George Floyd, a few minutes before he died: Now 18-year-old Darnella Frazier has received a special mention from the renowned Pulitzer Prize and has been honored with a special prize.
The teenager went to a kiosk with her younger cousin on May 25, 2020 when she saw the police operation against Floyd in front of the store.
She filmed the killing of Floyd on her cell phone and posted it on the Internet, which was the first thing that caught the eye.
She acted bravely and underlined the "crucial role of citizens in journalists' pursuit of truth and justice," the organizers said on Friday.
In March of the Floyd trial, Frazier said of her video, "It's not what I should have done." Instead, she regrets failing to save Floyd's life.
Reporting on racism and corona honored
Every year 21 prizes are awarded, 14 of them for journalistic work, this year in particular reports on the coronavirus pandemic and police violence in the USA. In the “Breaking News” category, the most important award in American journalism went to the US local newspaper “Star Tribune” in Minneapolis for reporting on the killing of George Floyd and its aftermath. The jury from Colombia University in New York praised the reports were "haunting, reliable and nuanced."
The Reuters news agency received a Pulitzer for its analysis of how US law protects violent officials from conviction.
She shared the prize in the corresponding category with pieces from the magazine "Atlantic" on the pandemic.
On this subject, the "New York Times" received the particularly coveted award for "public service" for its "courageous, forward-looking and comprehensive" reporting on the pandemic, as the organizers announced.
US author with German roots wins
The writer Louise Erdrich, an American with German and indigenous roots, has received an award for her latest novel "The Night Watchman".
Erdrich prevailed against the other two finalists Daniel Mason and Percival Everett in the "Literature" category, as the organizers announced in New York on Friday.
The book is based on the life of Erdrich's grandfather, who worked as a night watchman.
It was a "majestic, polyphonic" book, judged the jury.
The award-winning Erdrich, who lives in the US state of Minnesota, has published numerous novels, poems and children's books, some of which have also been translated into German, including »Liebeszauber«, »Traces« or »Schattenfangen«.
mjm / Reuters