Congratulations to worthy Pulitzer winners, a dissent on the Wall Street Journal

Congratulations to David Leonhardt, Siddhartha Mukherjee, and others. A dissent on the Wall Street Journal.

Pulitzer prizes were announced yesterday. Examining the list of many worthy winners, I am gratified that David Leonhardt won a richly-deserved commentary prize. I am also gratified that Siddhartha Mukherjee won the general nonfiction prize for The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer This is a graceful, at times gripping work on nonfiction literature that everyone who wants to understand cancer science and policy needs to read.

I’m less gratified by the prize awarded to the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

I disagree with many conservatives who have won before–George Will and Charles Krauthammer, for example–who deeply deserved the recognition. The Wall Street Journal editorial page is different. The citation reads:

Awarded to Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal for his well crafted, against-the-grain editorials challenging the health care reform advocated by President Obama.

No. In my opinion, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page was–at-best–highly misleading in characterizing the health reform debate. In the opinion of any reasonable person, these editorials were crudely partisan when describing complex matters such as the 1099 debate, revenue projections, and more. (See here for many specific examples.)

This body of propaganda was and remains unworthy of the often-outstanding coverage the Wall Street Journal provided in its regular news pages.

Author: Harold Pollack

Harold Pollack is Helen Ross Professor of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has served on three expert committees of the National Academies of Science. His recent research appears in such journals as Addiction, Journal of the American Medical Association, and American Journal of Public Health. He writes regularly on HIV prevention, crime and drug policy, health reform, and disability policy for American Prospect, tnr.com, and other news outlets. His essay, "Lessons from an Emergency Room Nightmare" was selected for the collection The Best American Medical Writing, 2009. He recently participated, with zero critical acclaim, in the University of Chicago's annual Latke-Hamentaschen debate.

3 thoughts on “Congratulations to worthy Pulitzer winners, a dissent on the Wall Street Journal”

  1. The Urinal has won before, and it’s always been the sort of place where the editors don’t read their own newspaper.

  3. I disagree with liberal bloggers who believe Charles Krauthammer deserves ANY recognition for his punditry. The man defines mean-spirited and narrow-minded. A once-great liberal newspaper like the Post should have given him the boot long ago.

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