By: Dave Astor Nicholas Kristof, who won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary partly because of his columns about Darfur, hopes the award shines a brighter spotlight on genocide in the Sudanese region.
"I don't think the Pulitzer board was necessarily sending a message, but the prize may have the effect of bringing a little more attention to Darfur," the New York Times columnist says.
Editorial Page Editor Gail Collins adds that Kristof, 46, richly deserves the prize for his columns about Darfur and other topics in the developing world: "Nick has done just amazing, path-breaking stuff. His work is both dangerous to himself and of enormous service to the people he writes about."
Kristof, who travels about once a month for his column, wishes he could have more impact. "It surprised me that Op-Ed columns have less persuasive power than I thought to change people's minds about issues they're already familiar with," he says. "But columns do have a significant ability to put [less-publicized] issues on the agenda."
He started his New York Times News Service-syndicated column in 2001, and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004 and 2005 before winning this year.
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