Post Watch: Post Losing Pulitzer Winners to Buyout

The Post collected six Pulitzer prizes for 2007, but it could lose as many as 12 Pulitzer Prize winners in the current round of buyouts. Three are taking the package; nine are weighing it.

“It’s a very generous buyout,” says feature writer Tamara Jones, who collected a Pulitzer for her work on the Virginia Tech shootings. “I see it as a great opportunity.”

Tim Page, who previously won for his classical-music criticism, is taking the deal and planning to teach. Investigative ace Susan Schmidt, who won the prize for her work on the Jack Abramoff scandal, is taking the money—and taking her byline to the Wall Street Journal.

At least nine other Pulitzer winners meet the requirements to leave with a payoff: business columnist Steven Pearlstein, humor writer Gene Weingarten, feature writer Anne Hull, national-security ace Dana Priest, three-time winner Sari Horwitz, military writer Tom Ricks, investigative reporter Scott Higham, investigative editor Jeff Leen, and movie critic Stephen Hunter.

Jo Becker, who shared a 2007 Pulitzer for the series on Vice President Dick Cheney, went to the New York Times even before the stories were published.

Says one prizewinner: “We are all weighing our options.”

Odds are the Post will lose more Pulitzer winners than it won Pulitzer Prizes this year.

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Harry Jaffe