New York Times plugs Pulitzer winners before prizes awarded

NEW YORK – The New York Times says it mistakenly advertised a Facebook Live event with its Pulitzer Prize winners, several hours before the official announcement that it had won three of journalism’s most prestigious prizes.

The Times won in the categories of international reporting, feature writing and breaking news photography. The awards were announced at 3 p.m. Monday. But the print edition of Monday’s paper included a notice reading, “How does it feel to get a Pulitzer Prize? Ask The Times’s recently announced 2017 winners yourself — they’ll be taking questions live today at 4:30 p.m. E.T.”

Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy wouldn’t confirm it had advance word that it had won any Pulitzers, calling the notice “a mistake, combined with a little bit of hopeful thinking.”

Although the prizes are confidential, news organizations sometimes manage to learn of Pulitzer wins before the official announcements.