Jacqui_Banaszynski_at_the_Missouri_School_of_Journalism_2008

Jacqui Banaszynski (born April 17, 1952) is an American journalist. She was the winner of the

Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1979 for a distinguished example of feature writing giving prime consideration to high liter ...

in 1988. Banaszynski went on to become a professor and a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair at the school of journalism at

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

Biography

Born Jacqueline Marie Banaszynski in

Pulaski, Wisconsin Pulaski is a village in Brown, Oconto, and Shawano counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 3,539 at the 2010 census. Of this, 3,321 were in Brown County, 218 in Shawano County, and none in Oconto County. The Brown and Ocont ...

, Banaszynski began working as a journalist in high school and when she was 15, became the associate editor of the school paper, the '' Pulaski News''. Part of the appeal of working on the paper was that the journalism program gave her access to sporting events at the school level. Banaszynski graduated from

Pulaski High School Pulaski High School is a public high school in Pulaski, Wisconsin, United States, in Brown County (school district also serves parts of Shawano, Outagamie and Oconto counties), that serves students in grades 9 through 12. Its mascot is the Re ...

in 1970 and earned a degree in journalism from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in 1974., graduating . Around 1984, Banaszynski started working for the '' St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch''. In 1985, she went on assignment to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and her story about

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

ese victims of

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

, "The Trail of Tears," became a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years (1942–1947), it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic R ...

in 1986. Banaszynski wrote a special report called "AIDS in the Heartland" while she was a reporter at the ''St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch''. and The report was a series of stories that centered around the lives of two

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

Minnesota farmers, Both had contracted and died of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

. She and photographer Jean Pieri searched for a year for subjects that they felt could "humanize people afflicted by this terrifying new illness." Their choice of following Dick Hanson and his partner, Bert Henningson, at first upset readers of the newspaper, but after the final installment of the 3 part series, most readers seemed to sympathize with both men. The series won a

in 1988. In 1997, Banaszynski began working for ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' and in 2003, became the Associate Managing Editor for special projects and staff development. Banaszynski was inducted into the

American Society of Sunday and Feature Editors American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Hall of Fame in 2008. She went on to become the Knight Chair at the

School of Journalism A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of the ...

References

External links

Official siteOral history interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banaszynski, Jacqui American women journalists Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing winners Living people American women academics University of Missouri faculty Marquette University alumni 1952 births 21st-century American women writers