Joseph Pulitzer stood out as great American journalist. Hungarian-born, Pulitzer was the most skillful of newspaper publishers.

Pulitzer's Flexible Will
In writing his 1904 will, which made provision for the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes as an incentive to excellence, Pulitzer specified solely four awards in journalism, four in letters and drama, one for education, and five traveling scholarships. Initally, three of the scholarships were awarded. Currently, five scholarships of $7,500 are awarded to graduating students from the School of Journalism.

Announcements
The formal announcement of the prizes, made each April, states that the awards are made by the president of Columbia University on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize board. This formulation is derived from the Pulitzer will, which established Columbia as the seat of the administration of the prizes. Today, in fact, the independent board makes all the decisions relative to the prizes. In his will Pulitzer bestowed an endowment on Columbia of $2,000,000 for the establishment of a School of Journalism, one-fourth of which was to be "applied to prizes or scholarships for the encouragement of public service, public morals, American literature, and the advancement of education."

Pulitzer's Gold
Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal is awarded each year to the American news organization that wins the Public Service category. It is never awarded to an individual.

The medal, about two and three-quarter inches in diameter and a quarter-inch thick, is not solid gold. It is silver with 24-carat gold plate and presented to the winning newspaper in an elegant cherry-wood box with brass hardware.

Winners are only from US or frim any country, island ?
Only U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for the Prizes in Books, Drama and Music
Exception is History category. The book must be a history of the United States but the author may be of any nationality.
Permanent residents are ineligible.
For the Journalism competition, entrants may be of any nationality but work must have appeared in U.S. newspaper, magazine or news site that publishes regularly.