Four Ohio University alumni were part of 2021 Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, adding to the numerous Bobcats who have been recognized with the prestigious award before.
Kevin Martin (’09) and Richard Tsong-Taatarii (’17) were graduates of the Scripps College of Communication’s School of Visual Communication and both part of the photography staff at the Minneapolis Star Tribune that won a Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News for its coverage of the murder of George Floyd. Frank Franklin II, a non-degree alumnus, was part of the Associated Press photography staff that won the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting for coverage across U.S. cities that captured the nationwide response to the murder of Floyd, and Mykal McEldowney (’07), also a graduate of the Scripps College of Communication’s School of Visual Communication, provided visual reporting for the Indianapolis Star’s investigation into police dog bites that won the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting.
“Journalism is critical to the success of a democracy,” Stan Alost, professor in the School of Visual Communication, said. “And in a time when misinformation and propaganda flow freely, having alumni doing the hard work of reporting the facts, difficult as they may be, is inspiring. I am so proud of Frank Franklin for his work for the Associated Press covering events in New York; Mykal McEldowney for going behind the scenes of police dog training to create a series of informative images for his Pulitzer; Richard Tsong-Taatarii for wading into the conflict and chaos in Minneapolis to create powerful images that put audiences into the scene; and Kevin Martin for being one of the photo editors orchestrating the coverage and the display of the Minneapolis team’s images. All of these folks were willing to put themselves on the line physically and emotionally for their audiences. I could not be more proud of them, and to have them as part of the VisCom family.”
Every year, more than 2,500 journalism entries are submitted to the Pulitzer Prize competition, with only 21 awards normally being awarded in the journalism category. The entries may be made by any individual based on material coming from a United States newspaper, magazine or news site that publishes regularly during the calendar year and adheres to the highest journalistic principles.
“It feels great to be part of the Breaking News winning team,” Tsong-Taatarii said. “Prizes are not everything, but recognition does validate the fact that we as a newsroom answered the journalism call to cover our community in a time of crisis and reckoning.”
Martin and Tsong-Taatarii’s contributions included photographs that were part of the visual documentation during the Floyd protests in Minneapolis, the city in which Floyd was murdered.
“Photographing this crisis was very challenging,” Tsong-Taatarii added. “We do not have this level of upheaval in our community on a regular basis. It took several months to process the upheaval we went through as a newsroom.”
Tsong-Taatarri, a native of Papeete, Tahiti, who was raised in California, is a longtime staff photographer at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, beginning as an intern in 1999. He originally started his M.A. in visual communication in 1997 but didn’t finish his thesis or receive his degree until 2017 due to being hired at the Star Tribune after completing his internship there.
“This is one of the reasons I did not promptly finish my degree,” Tsong-Taatarri explained. “My degree was so important to me though, that I had to reapply for entry and am grateful to Professor Terry Eiler for kindly readmitting me and allowing me to finish, since OHIO has been foundational in my success. Classes with Terry Eiler, Marcy Nighswander and other professors helped shape my vision and work ethic. My success has been dependent on the building blocks I learned at my alma mater.”
McEldowney’s team won for their series “Mauled: When police dogs are weapons,” looking into how law enforcement agencies use police dogs and the consequences of using the dogs improperly. The series shed light on the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's use of K9s and found that the department had the highest rate of dog bites among police departments in the largest 20 U.S. cities, prompting change in policy regarding K9 units. McEldowney contributed to the visual reporting of the story, capturing images of how the dogs were trained and the repercussions of their bites.
“The reporting was tough,” McEldowney explained. “We had to ask hard questions of law enforcement and hear the gut-wrenching stories from those who have been innocently bitten. We had to see for ourselves how the dogs were being trained and the aftermath of their bites. Piecing all of that together, alongside reporting by The Marshall Project, AI.com, and The Invisible Institute, it was truly a large undertaking but one that I’ll never forget.”
Originally from Covington, Ohio, McEldowney has been a photojournalist at the Indianapolis Star since 2015. He said he owes many of his successes (and the name of his daughter) to the education and experiences he had while at OHIO.
“It’s not even a question, I wouldn’t be where I am today without my education at OHIO,” McEldowney said. “I had incredible professors like Terry Eiler, Marcy Nighswander, Stan Alost, all who pushed me to think differently and critically about our world and the way it functions. I really appreciate their dedication. It’s not a job for them, they truly care for all of their students and want everyone to succeed… Also, my wife (an OHIO grad) and I named our first daughter Ellis, after the English hall where we met our junior year.”
Since 1976, Ohio University Scripps College of Communication alumni, students and faculty have claimed at least 52 Pulitzer Prize awards in total.