Opinion / Augustin Macellari
Wired for sound
For more than a century the Pulitzer prize has celebrated the great and good in the liberal arts. It recognises music, literature, poetry and photography but the Pulitzer’s real meat and potatoes has always been journalism. That it’s a US prize is entirely appropriate: it’s the Americans, after all, who took a low-brow medium and made it high. Sure, the boozy lunches of Fleet Street, foreign wars, hungry hacks and Chesterfields have a beguiling glamour but it took the Americans to make the business of reporting not just sexy but a form of literature.
This process of “embetterment” – to use an Americanism – represents the country’s relationship with media generally. In the absence of any particular historical tradition, the US has enthusiastically made the best of whatever medium crosses its path. The Pulitzer reflects this: not only has it spent a century celebrating the best in American journalism, it has adapted with the times. Now it’s brought a new discipline into the fold: the board has announced that it will be awarding a prize for the best in audio reporting.
Once more, the US has blazed a trail in turning real life into compelling stories. But before we get too carried away, it’s worth remembering that just as television didn’t begin with Netflix and House of Cards (the show first appeared on UK screens in 1990, albeit without Kevin Spacey), audio didn’t begin with NPR’s Serial. Radio, as our older readers will remember, is what we used to call podcasts – and it’s very much alive and kicking. So cin cin to the Pulitzer’s new prize and congratulations to its future winners. Let’s take a moment to remember the rich and ongoing tradition that is radio – and tune in, while we’re about it. You already know where to go: monocle.com/radio.