How the Nobel Peace Prize and the Pulitzers are chosen
The Nobel Peace Prize
Alfred Nobel's will set up the prizes. The Peace Prize is decided by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, five members elected by the Norwegian Parliament. The first Peace Prize was awarded in 1901. The committee's deliberations are secret, and nomination records are sealed for 50 years.
The Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prizes are administered by Columbia University and first awarded in 1917. Juries nominate finalists in each category, and the Pulitzer Board makes the final decisions. The prizes cover journalism, letters, drama, and music.
What these honors show
They show which work a small group of judges valued in a given year. They do not measure the full field. Many excellent books, lives, and acts of peace have never been recognized.
How to use this
Treat a prize as a starting list. Read a finalist as well as a winner, and look up the reasoning the committee published.
Sources: nobelprize.org, the Nobel Foundation's official site, and pulitzer.org.
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