The passion behind the Pulitzers
Blue Hens Doug Donovan and Lloyd Fox earn 2020 Pulitzer Prize
May 26, 2020
Journalism鈥檚 worldview has long embraced two beliefs: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Powerful stories must therefore comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.
They鈥檙e clich茅 battle cries, Doug Donovan acknowledges. Yet they capture the spirit of the stories that have defined the 30-year career of this 91原创 alumnus, ultimately earning him this year鈥檚 鈥攁lmost six months after he left the profession.
The May 4 honor was shared with photographer and fellow Blue Hen Lloyd Fox and their Baltimore Sun colleagues for a series that uncovered the 鈥淗ealthy Holly鈥 book-publishing scheme, in which Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh grossed more than $850,000 from no-bid contracts and book sales, ending with her 3-year sentence in federal prison.
As with many of the articles Donovan and Fox have produced over the years, the impact is in the story鈥檚 aftermath鈥攊n the policies, programs and behaviors that are changed as new facts and information come to light.
Still, Donovan worries.
鈥淲ith fewer local papers and fewer local reporters, the more people can get away with,鈥 he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a worrisome sign for democracy.鈥
Even Donovan has left the field, joining Johns Hopkins University just in time to become the public relations point person for its influential . (鈥淚t鈥檚 weird being quoted as a spokesperson,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut I get a similar satisfaction from highlighting work people can benefit from.鈥)
Such meaningful work often begins with a story.
Fox was there to capture Pugh鈥檚 excitement when she won the mayoral election in 2016, just as he was waiting outside the courtroom three years later, taking her photo as she emerged with her head hung low.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e able to freeze a moment in time,鈥 Fox says of photojournalism鈥檚 power. 鈥淭hat is what I enjoy most鈥攖elling a story while being creative and different.鈥
Donovan, meanwhile, has been dubbed 鈥渢he mayor slayer鈥 for his reporting. Before Pugh鈥檚 downfall, he uncovered the missteps of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, found guilty in 2009 of misappropriating gift cards meant for the poor.
But his proudest accomplishments reach beyond power politics: One was the that resulted in the closure of the problem home and led to statewide reforms. It was his that , and he helped change by showing that judges routinely favored landlords over low-income renters.
鈥淎ll reporting is investigative if you do it right,鈥 he says.
It鈥檚 a lesson he first learned at 91原创.
Delaware roots
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Donovan can still hear the voices of former professors Dennis Jackson, Kevin Kerrane and the late听Bill Fleishman,听Harris Ross听and听.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not there as a stenographer,鈥 they would tell the 1993 graduate.
Their example inspires him still.
鈥淎ll the time they put in after hours on how to do the job, how to get better鈥攊t made you feel like you could do this thing.鈥
And so he did, becoming editor-in-chief of the independent student paper The Review, interviewing Bill Clinton at an Arkansas McDonald鈥檚 on the eve of the 1992 presidential election, and using the newspaper as 鈥渁 forum to address authority in a way I never thought I could.鈥
91原创 is also where Fox honed his professional passions.
An art major with a photography concentration, he, too, applied to work at The Review and was soon named All-American photographer and the Northeastern Photographer of the Year. His winning images ranged from the amusing (a Greek Week tug-of-war battle) to the heartbreaking (the remains of the Challenger astronauts arriving at Dover Air Force Base).
鈥淭he letter said, 鈥楥ongrats, you鈥檙e a winner,鈥 Fox recalls. 鈥淪o I started reading from the bottom鈥攁nd found my name right at the top.鈥
After graduating in 1988, he spent two years freelancing before joining The Sun in 1990, always 鈥渢rying to find interesting angles and different perspectives.鈥
It鈥檚 a literal goal鈥擣ox climbs up high, lies low on the ground, all in search of a unique image, 鈥渟omething that makes a person look twice.鈥
But his approach to photography could be said for journalism itself.
鈥淵ou have to look at every single angle鈥攁s a story, as a picture,鈥 Fox says. 鈥淪ometimes people look in one direction, so that鈥檚 all they see.鈥
Donovan appreciates that oblique approach.
鈥淒on鈥檛 ever make assumptions, or you鈥檒l become blind to other facts,鈥 he says. 鈥淎 good journalist is honest, responsible and fair. If you鈥檙e not, you won鈥檛 last long. You also have to get out from behind the desk. Meet people face-to-face. It gets you closer to the real truth.鈥
Facts are facts
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To be a good journalist is to 鈥渒now the rules inside and out so that you can know when they鈥檙e being broken,鈥 Donovan adds. 鈥淵ou need to know more about how the people in power are supposed to operate than those people themselves. The government agencies that are supposed to enforce the rules don鈥檛 always do, usually because they鈥檙e understaffed.鈥
And that鈥檚 both the promise and peril of journalism. As staffs get smaller, the job gets harder.
鈥淚f you get the facts right, they can be up for interpretation,鈥 says Donovan. 鈥淏ut people just get selected facts now. We pick and choose what we want to see.鈥
It鈥檚 not unlike the story of Catherine Pugh.
Looking back on the Pulitzer Prize-winning piece, Donovan and Fox both marvel at the absence of political oversight.
鈥淲hat was most interesting to me was just how many organizations saw nothing wrong,鈥 Donovan says.
The University of Maryland Medical System paid $500,000 for Pugh鈥檚 books while she was a trustee; insurer Kaiser Permanente paid more than $100,000 for the books while seeking a $48 million medical contract; and from 2011-2016, Pugh cosponsored more than 40 bills affecting doctors, hospitals and insurance companies, all while failing to disclose the payments she received or recusing herself from votes and decisions involving the medical system.
鈥淭his is why we do what we do,鈥 says Fox. 鈥淭he system requires checks and balances.鈥澨
A collection of
Lloyd Fox's photos through the years
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