And The Winner Is Them Again

The New York Times—a.k.a. the New York Yankees of the newspaper business—has won the industry’s version of the World Series more than any competing paper. In fact, the last year the paper didn’t hold the record for total Pulitzer Prizes won was 1936, when the already defunct New York World (at one time owned by media magnate Joseph Pulitzer, the prize’s namesake) had collected nine awards in its history compared with the Times’ eight. (For the Yankees it was 1939, when they were tied with the long-hated Boston Red Sox, each with five titles.)

But how did the Pulitzer Prize, the latest round of which will be awarded on April 16, become so important?

Even in the age of Freakonomics, the research on the economics of awards is pretty thin.

The formerly dismal science has undergone a revolution over the past decade, with researchers delving into fields that were once the domain of biologists, social scientists, and psychologists. This research has largely had the advantage of large and well-recorded datasets. But in the world of awards, medals, and prizes, it’s hard to come by comprehensive data, according to research by Swiss economist Bruno Frey.

That didn’t stop him from tackling the subject, however, and what he found out reveals why most ambitious journalists might think long and hard about giving up their first-borns for a Pulitzer.

The answer lies in the ability to differentiate oneself from the pack. In most entrepreneurial endeavors, the reward comes in some monetary form—and it’s often large.

Ask any reporter who has ever worked a news beat: It takes a healthy dose of entrepreneurial instinct to get the story first and tell it better than the competition. But while they’re by no means paupers, few journalists make the kind of money many of the entrepreneurial people they cover earn. (Think businessmen, athletes, celebrities.)

Frey argues that the more the market prevents individuals from gaining prestige through financial means, the higher the demand for awards.

Take the United States military, where compensation is limited yet more than 70 different types of medals and honors are handed out. There aren’t too many (any?) prestigious organizations handing out C.E.O. of the Year awards.

On the supply side, Frey's arguments suggest it's no coincidence the Pulitzer board has given so many prizes to the paper of record: In order to maintain the influence of their awards and in turn advance whatever view they're attached to, the committees that push prizes will often recognize people and organizations that are already deemed prestigious.

That might explain why red-state favorite USA Today, the nation's largest paper by circulation, has yet to win a single Pulitzer.