The Daily Cardinal: Tell me about the piece you wrote that won the award.
Walt Bogdanich: It was close to 40,000 words on maybe 25 pieces. It looked at what happens when railroad deaths occur and looked at how the railroads try to sidestep the responsibility in many cases for these deaths.
DC: How much time and effort has to go into a story like this?
WB: I certainly didn't know that I would be working on this for 15 months. I would guess we did close to 1,000 interviews. I'm fortunate to work at a paper that let me focus exclusively on this, to immerse myself totally in the subject.
DC: What is the process of being selected for a Pulitzer Prize?
WB: It's supposed to be a secret but journalists being journalists, the word leaks out. It's the senior staff here at the paper that decides what they're going to enter at the Pulitzer. At The New York Times, to even be nominated is quite an honor, because they're picking what they feel is the most deserving of the stories.
DC: What were your emotions when you won?
WB: Winning a Pulitzer is thrilling beyond description, but to win it at The New York Times is the ultimate for me because of its tradition and history. To be standing in the same spot as so many of the legendary figures in journalism stood to accept in their awards over the years is quite an experience and something I'll never forget.
DC: When were you at UW-Madison?
WB: 1968 through 1972.
DC: Were you involved with any campus papers?
WB: I came to Wisconsin having never written a newspaper article. I was a political science major. There was an antiwar rally in another city, and I wanted to go but had no way to get there. Somebody suggested The Daily Cardinal might pay my way in exchange for a story and I did it. That's how I got started in journalism. I got bitten by the bug and pretty much lived at the paper for the next year and a half. I had the time of my life.
DC: What at UW-Madison helped prepare you for life after college?
WB: That was the beauty of Wisconsin; that somebody like me who had no background could get involved in the campus paper and discover something that would capture my interest for many years. I have a lot of fond memories of UW-Madison. It gave me my direction in life. It's a wonderful place and I hope others are similarly rewarded.
DC: What was your career experience after you left UW-Madison?
WB: I got a job at U.S. Steel in Gary, Ind. where I grew up and raised some money to start my own weekly paper. I worked there, a few small dailies, briefly in Ohio, and at The Wall Street Journal. I worked at ABC News in New York and at 60 Minutes. Then I decided to go back to newspaper and I got hired at The New York Times.
DC: Do you have any advice for young writers?
WB: Don't give up. There are so many times I could have, and I certainly had reason to give up and do something else. If you find something you love, pursue it and it'll work out. The idea is to find something that you have a passion for. That's the key thing, because it ceases to be work and it's fun.
