• by Philip Rosenstein , April 10, 2017

Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on Monday for his work covering Donald Trump’s charitable giving during the 2016 election.

Numerous questions have been asked of the efficacy or accuracy of reporting during the 2016 presidential election. No one, however, can slight David Fahrenthold for his reporting.

In fact, in conversations about the successes and failures of journalism in 2016, his name comes up almost ubiquitously as one of the bright spots in 2016 political reporting.

Fahrenthold had a particularly interesting relationship with this Twitter followers, whom he asked for help in investigating then-candidate Trump’s charitable giving.

The reporting started with an analysis of the $6 million Trump claimed he raised for veterans during a televised Iowa fund raiser, including $1 million of his personal funds. Fahrenthold realized that Trump had stopped distributing the funds long before hitting the $6 million mark.

This behavior led to a deeper investigation of Trump’s charitable giving over the years.

The WaPo reporter called hundreds of charities trying to confirm the candidate’s claims of philanthropic prowess. The journalist regularly posted photos of his notebook on Twitter, allowing his followers to stay abreast of the work he was doing. He also asked followers for tips on any charities he may have missed.

The scope of Fahrenthold’s reporting included investigating any money raised for charity that was inappropriately used for purchases by the GOP candidate, including monies from The Trump Foundation used to pay his legal bills.

A book chronicling Fahrenthold's work has also been published by The Washington Post. 

Public Service: The staff of the New York Daily News and ProPublica.

Breaking News Reporting: The staff of East Bay Times.

Investigative Reporting: Eric Eyre, the Charleston Gazette-Mail.

Explanatory Reporting: The Panama Papers, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and the Miami Herald.

Local Reporting: The staff of The Salt Lake Tribune.

National Reporting: David Fahrenthold, The Washington Post.

International Reporting: The staff of The New York Times.

Feature Writing: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times.

Commentary: Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal.

Criticism: Hilton Als, The New Yorker.

Editorial Writing: Art Cullen, The Storm Lake Times.

Editorial Cartooning: Jim Morin, Miami Herald.

Breaking News Photography: Daniel Berehulak, The New York Times.

Feature Photography: E. Jason Wambsgans, Chicago Tribune.