Well this is certainly an interesting development. According to the New York Times, The National Enquirer is now eligible to apply for a Pulitzer Prize.
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Published: February 18, 2010
The Pulitzer Prize administrators have decided that The National Enquirer is eligible to compete for the awards, a person briefed on the matter said Thursday.
Enquirer editors said they had submitted an entry before the Feb. 1 deadline for their work on the John Edwards scandal, but it was not clear whether the publication qualified for the Pulitzers, widely considered the most coveted honor for American newspapers.
The Enquirer uncovered the extramarital affair and out-of-wedlock fatherhood of Mr. Edwards, a former senator and presidential candidate — though much of that reporting took place before 2009, and so could not be considered for this year’s prizes.
Sig Gissler, administrator of the prizes, says he and his colleagues never publicly discuss the eligibility of any specific publication. “We apply our criteria, and if publications meet them, we allow them to participate,” he said.
The rules state that the journalism awards must go to a newspaper or news site based in the United States that publishes no less often than weekly. But the distinction between a weekly newspaper and a magazine can be blurry, and American Media, publisher of the Enquirer, has at different times referred to it as both a magazine and a newspaper.
But Pulitzer officials have decided that the Enquirer is, indeed, a newspaper, according to the person briefed on the matter, who was granted anonymity to discuss the confidential decision, which was first reported on Thursday by the Huffington Post.
journoprof 