Chronicle's Falkenberg wins Pulitzer for Commentary

Houston Chronicle Editor and Executive Vice President Nancy Barnes looks on Monday as Houston Chronicle Columnist Lisa Falkenberg addresses the Houston Chronicle newsroom after finding she has won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. This is the first Pulitzer Prize awarded to the Chronicle in its 114-year history. less Houston Chronicle Editor and Executive Vice President Nancy Barnes looks on Monday as Houston Chronicle Columnist Lisa Falkenberg addresses the Houston Chronicle newsroom after finding she has won the 2015 ... more Photo: Billy Smith II, Chronicle Photo: Billy Smith II, Chronicle Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Chronicle's Falkenberg wins Pulitzer for Commentary 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

Houston Chronicle Metro columnist Lisa Falkenberg was named winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary, one of 14 awards announced Monday in the most prestigious contest in American journalism.

A Chronicle columnist for eight years and a Pulitzer finalist last year, Falkenberg was honored for a series of 10 columns, a number of which dealt with a corrupt and abusive grand jury system. Those columns focused on the case of Alfred Dewayne Brown, who was indicted for murder in connection with the shooting of a Houston police officer despite evidence that appeared to confirm his alibi.

The Pulitzer judges in the Commentary category praised Falkenberg for "vividly-written, ground-breaking columns about grand jury abuses that led to a wrongful conviction and other egregious problems in the legal and immigration systems."

The Pulitzer award was the first for the Houston Chronicle. The newspaper had been a finalist on five previous occasions, including Falkenberg in the same category in 2014.

The announcement of winners in the journalism categories as well as the awards for books, drama and music was made at 2 p.m. by Pulitzer Administrator Mike Pride in a ceremony broadcast live on YouTube.

When Falkenberg's name was announced, spontaneous cheering and applause swept through the Chronicle newsroom, followed by a champagne toast. Falkenberg, unaware she was a finalist this year, was overwhelmed by the award.

"It's an amazing feeling," Falkenberg said.

Falkenberg said being a finalist and winner in successive years will not change what she writes about or how she approaches her job.

"It doesn't change who I am," she said. "It's not the reason I do this work. It's just an award. But I guess it's nice to feel respected. While I've gotten a lot of encouragement through the years, I've often felt discounted at times, either because I was young, or because I was a woman, or because my dad's a truck driver and I sometimes miss obscure literary references. People like me aren't supposed to win the Pulitzer. But now I have. And if it means that people read me who otherwise wouldn't, or that people pay more attention to the issues I write about, then that's a beautiful thing."

The prize also includes a $10,000 cash award.

"I'm thrilled for Lisa," said Houston Chronicle Editor Nancy Barnes. "She did tremendous investigative work around the abuses of the grand jury, showing how those abuses led to a wrongful conviction, and her writing was full of passionate outrage. We knew it was truly great work, and I'm gratified that the Pulitzer Board recognized it as such. In truth, there's a lot of important work being done at the Chronicle, work that's making a difference here in Houston and in greater Texas. So we all take pride in her Pulitzer win."

Falkenberg, 36, is a native of Seguin and a 2000 graduate of the University of Texas, where she majored in journalism. After a four-year stint with the Associated Press in Dallas, she joined the Chronicle in 2005 as a state correspondent.

Former Editor Jeff Cohen brought Falkenberg to Houston in 2007 to become a columnist, sensing she had the right combination of personality, passion, and writing ability to be a good fit for the job.

"Lisa's is a naturally talented writer, and she enhances that with hard-nosed reporting and a sense of place that is thoroughly Texan," said Cohen, now the Chronicle's Executive Editor for the opinion and editorial pages. "She's a modern advocate and brings all of that to bear when showing her readers that things like the grand jury system are broken."

Falkenberg's first column in April 2007 concerned wrongful criminal convictions getting publicity in Dallas County. She called on Chuck Rosenthal, then Harris County District Attorney, to allow defense attorneys to look through evidence in local cases where convictions were in dispute.

Her first journalism "job," however, came many years before when she began writing for the Seguin High School newspaper, Cricket Chirps. Her first internship was at the local town newspaper.

"I love to write and I love to ask questions," Falkenberg said. "I was that annoying kid with the hand always raised in history class. And the kid whose exasperated mother was so worn down by the constant stream of inquiries she could only respond 'just because.' When I found out there was a job that let you write as much as you wanted, and ask as many questions as you wanted, and actually paid you to do it, I was sold."

Falkenberg, who is married and the mother of two girls said she was shocked at being named a finalist last year.

"I never even saw myself in league with the people who win Pulitzers," she said.

This year's entry included seven columns exploring Brown's case and the behavior of prosecutors, police, and grand jury foreman in securing the indictment and conviction.

"I wasn't really thinking about the Pulitzer when I started writing about Brown," she said. "The Brown case was just supposed to be one column. But when I started peeling back the onion, there was so much there. Besides apparent prosecutorial misconduct, you had black-and-white proof in a transcript that the Texas grand jury system is not only vulnerable to abuse. It's being abused.

The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier was awarded the coveted Public Service award for a series of articles exploring why the state leads the nation in fatal domestic violence cases. The New York Times was awarded prizes in three categories this year, including investigative reporting. The Los Angeles Times won in two categories.