Chris Campbell, Pulitzer Prize Winner

Yeah, that's how I am introducing myself to people at the moment. And why? Because it's certainly no bullshit.

I won a Pulitzer Prize today.

Weird to read that, isn't? Yeah, I know, I haven't quite wrapped my head around it, either. But it's real.

You see, back in late-November, a former coworker e-mailed me saying a friend she has needed a graphic designer. The newspaper he worked for was writing a series of stories and they needed some graphics built. I contacted the lead reporter, Daniel, and we talked it out and they hired me. Over the course of about 5-6 days, I built nine graphics for them and they ran them all. They were happy, I was happy and after it was done we went our separate ways.

Then today after suffering through some meetings that seemingly never ended, I checked the NY Times front page and there was this story. Right there, in the second friggin paragraph, I read this line:

The prize for public service went to the tiny Bristol Herald Courier of southwestern Virginia, circulation 29,000, for revealing that many energy companies failed to pay required royalties on natural gas drilling, and that the royalties that were paid were not reaching the local people who deserved them.

I thought to myself, "Holy shit. That is the series of stories I built those graphics for 4 months ago. No way that is real." So after having a mild panic attack thinking that it could be true, I dug up Daniel's phone number and called him.

Needless to say, once I started to remind him of who I was, he stopped me mid-sentence and just laughed, saying, "Chris, congratulations." Then it really hit me that I was part of a team that just won the most prestigious journalism award on the planet.

I was floored. It was real. We laughed for the next 3-4 minutes, repeating variances of "I never thought this could happen" and "I'm just can't believe this has happened." He said his phone had been ringing like crazy and that he honestly couldn't think of what he was supposed to say to people asking him questions. As we hung up I think I could still hear him laughing, just as I was at the happiness and absurdity of the moment.

What's truly crazy about being part of this is how I had to leave the newspaper business in order to win an award. Before I left to do graphic design for a nonprofit, I worked several years for a newsroom that was crazed and insane about winning awards, any awards really. And they never did. Because as Kelly and a bunch of us joked, if you do your job with the goal of winning an award, you have NO chance of winning an award.

One thing I have to laugh about and share was the front page of the newspaper's site this afternoon. The newspaper had just won THE PULITZER fucking PRIZE, and what got top billing on the homepage?



Rad. A bridge accident and an airport story ranked above the award. At least it beat out the headline just below, about the girl who got high and crashed into a church. Classy.

So check out the series because it's really good (it did win a Pulitzer, if you hadn't heard), and know that at least I have something completely unexpected to talk about at parties and gatherings. Plus, now I can tease my sister that her master's degree is crap compared to my Pulitzer. She's got to win a Nobel or something before anyone in our family takes her seriously again. So really I've won twice in one day.

So big congrats to the staff at the Bristol Herald Courier, it's a great moment for them and they should be proud. Hope that series continues to affect change for the way natural gas is mined and how those companies treat those communities. Way to go, Herald Courier staff, honored to be part of the team.