The Washington Post and New York Times, known for their critical coverage of former President Trump, have refused to relinquish the Pulitzer Prizes they received in 2018.
The awards recognized their investigative reporting on the allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia, which has since been discredited.
Regardless of this debunking, the publications are holding on to their National Reporting awards, maintaining confidence in the reporting that earned them the recognition.
Washington Post Refuses to Return Pulitzer Prize Amid Criticism
The release of the Durham Report on Monday challenged the credibility of the Russia collusion narrative that had been prevalent in past years.
The report suggests the allegations of collusion were a politically motivated attack orchestrated by Hillary Clinton, supported by Barack Obama, and perpetuated by the FBI.
This revelation led to calls for media outlets that propagated the collusion theory, such as The New York Times an Washington Post, to return their Pulitzer Prizes. Critics argue these outlets should not be rewarded for disseminating what has been determined to be a hoax.
In the face of calls to return its 2018 Pulitzer Prize, The Washington Post refused.
The newspaper, along with New York Times, was awarded the prestigious journalism prize for their in-depth, tireless coverage of the now-debunked theory that former President Trump conspired with Russia.
Trump threatened to sue the Pulitzer Board if they do not revoke the prizes awarded to the NYT and WaPo over their Russia hoax reporting. https://t.co/qFQOGjUM7S
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 1, 2022
Despite this, Washington Post, supported by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, a known Democratic donor, is standing by its investigative work.
Questioning the Validity of Allegations in Trump-Moscow Hotel Incident
Durham’s report argues neither U.S. law enforcement nor the intelligence community had substantial evidence of collusion at the beginning of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Erik Wemple, a media critic for The Washington Post, has frequently criticized liberal media outlets that published stories based on Christopher Steele’s dossier.
Wemple pointed out the inadequacy of Steele’s allegations regarding a supposed conspiracy between Trump and the Kremlin. His primary critiques targeted CNN and MSNBC for their hasty reporting of unverified claims about Trump’s misconduct in a Moscow hotel.
The long-awaited report by Special Counsel John Durham tasked to look into the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign for Russian collusion was released Monday, concluding that the FBI should have never launched an investigation into the Trump campaign. https://t.co/7zZ9aJfFz3
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 15, 2023
Many of these media outlets that broke the collusion story were reportedly working in close collaboration.
