Pulitzer Board grants special citation to Afghanistan journalists

The Pulitzer Prize Board announced a special citation Friday for people in Afghanistan who risked their safety to help produce news stories and images from their war-torn country.

From staff and freelance correspondents to interpreters to drivers to hosts, courageous Afghan residents helped produce Pulitzer-winning and Pulitzer-worthy images and stories that have contributed to a wider understanding of profoundly tragic and complicated circumstances, the board said.

The citation comes with a USD 100,000 emergency relief grant intended to help men and women involved in journalism in Afghanistan either resettle or to continue their work safely.

The Western pullout and the swift Taliban takeover of Afghanistan have left thousands of people, including journalists, fearing retribution under the new regime. President Joe Biden has set a Tuesday deadline to withdraw American forces.

The Pulitzer Board's citation came a day after a suicide attack at the Kabul airport killed well over 100 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.

It's critical in a moment of stark threat to support those Afghans whose bravery, skill, and commitment to the ideals of a free press have helped create so much important journalism in recent decades, said board co-chairs Katherine Boo, Gail Collins and John Daniszewski.

The grant will be administered by the not-for-profit Committee to Protect Journalists.