A Pulitzer Prize, but Without a Newsroom to Put It In

When three reporters for InsideClimate News found out they won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting, none were in the same city — Elizabeth McGowan was in Washington, Lisa Song was in Boston and David Hasemyer was in New York. “We’re a virtual organization,” said the publisher of the six-year-old Web site, David Sassoon, from his office in New York.

So the celebration took place in a telephone conference call; whatever Champagne flowed, flowed in separate locations. InsideClimate News may be the leanest news start-up ever to be presented with a Pulitzer, journalism’s highest honor, a prize that is typically awarded to regional and national newspapers. It beat out 50 other entrants and two finalists, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post, for the prize. With a full-time staff of just seven and a nonprofit business model, InsideClimate News exemplifies a new breed of news organization that depends on donations, both from rich charitable foundations and a handful of ordinary readers. “Because of our name, some people think we’re an advocacy organization,” said Ms. Song, one of the three winners, in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “I hope the award will get people to stop making that mistake.”