The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an American news media organization established in 2006 that sponsors independent reporting on global issues that other media outlets are less willing or able to undertake on their own. The Center's goal is to raise the standard of coverage of international systemic crises, and to do so in a way that engages both the broad public and government policy-makers. The organization is based in Washington, D.C.
The Center funds international travel costs associated with reporting projects on topics and regions of global importance. Grant amounts for journalists depend on the project and range from $3,000 to $20,000. All journalists, writers or filmmakers, both freelance and staff of any nationality, may apply. It also brings journalists to schools, colleges and universities around the United States to engage students with global issues. In 2015, it launched an online lesson builder that lets educators use Pulitzer Center journalism in original lessons.
The Pulitzer Center is recognized as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is not affiliated with the Pulitzer Prizes.
The Pulitzer Center has sponsored reporting projects on a wide variety of under-reported stories across the globe. The projects incorporate blog posts, multimedia reporting, and multiple pieces that run in major mainstream news outlets such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Guardian, Financial Times, PBS Newshour, Seattle Times, The New Yorker, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. The Pulitzer Center treats the reporting projects as full-blown campaigns, designed to create maximum exposure for the reporting. This entails promoting the projects through social media, partnerships with other websites and organizations, and lectures by the journalists themselves at universities and schools.
Pulitzer Center-funded projects have won nearly every journalism award available including from Associated Press Media Editors, the National Academy of Sciences, CINE Golden Eagle Award, Loeb and Society of Professional Journalists].