Art Cullen is the editor of the Storm Lake Times, a 3,000-circulation newspaper in Iowa. In 2017, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing disguised as investigative reporting — an exposé on corporate agriculture and river pollution. The distinction didn’t help much with the newspaper’s bottom line.
“We lost money the same year we won the Pulitzer,” said Cullen. “In fact, circulation declined in the three months surrounding the Pulitzer.” Some of Cullen’s prize money went to pay bank loans.
The only part of this saga that’s exceptional for local newspapers across the country is the Pulitzer.