Prestigious Prizes - Think Again

The Nobel Peace Prize


Has anyone else noticed that our (the human community) once prestigious prizes have changed over the years? It used to be that someone was given the Nobel Peace Prize because of something that person had done that was an extraordinary accomplishment such as those accomplished by the following:

• Albert Schweitzer
• Mother Teresa
  

Last year Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize. Was he given this prize because it was extraodinary that he was elected president? Or that he was a non-Bush?

Obama wasn't given time to earn this recognition. I think this cheapens the prestige and dilutes the importance of this prize.

Pulitzer Prize

On to the Pulitzer Prize. I looked at the winners for "General Reporting" and found winners reporting on high infant mortality rate in Alabama that lead to policy changes, and serious flaws in the Massachusets prison system that lead to reform.


The Enquirer a Contender

Now I see on cnn.com that "The Enquirer" is a serious contender for this year's Pulitzer Prize because of breaking the news about John Edwards' affair and love child. The only problem that the awarding organization had with this decision was to determine whether it was a magazine or a newspaper.

The media is now officially being recognized for distributing mind numbing, IQ reducing fluff.

"honoring excellence in journalism and the arts since 1917" (pulitzer.org)