OU alum Francisco Gutierrez was part of the Minnesota Star Tribune team that won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting of a mass shooting at a Catholic school.
“Every single person in the newsroom is deserving of claiming this award, because we had photographers, we had reporters, we had editors, all really have hands on this,” Gutierrez said in a Tuesday morning call with the OU Daily. “A lot of people have said it's hard to find somebody who wasn't involved.”
Gutierrez said he worked on the website homepage curation, ensuring the most important stories were easily accessible and front-facing for audiences on the Tribune’s website. As part of its coverage, the Star Tribune ran a live blog from 8:30 a.m. Aug. 27 to 7:17 p.m. on Aug. 28 alongside other coverage.
The award, announced Monday, honored six pieces of multimedia work from the Star Tribune covering the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in August. The shooting took place during the school’s first Mass of the academic year, resulting in the deaths of two children and injuries to 18 children and three adults.
Gutierrez said the award served as a confirmation of the Star Tribune’s dedication to serving its community.
“It’s really nice to have that recognition because of how personal that event was for people in the newsroom, …” Gutierrez said. “Everybody was working overtime and constantly thinking about it. Even though we weren’t at work, we were thinking of ‘how are we gonna approach our day to make sure that we’re getting the absolute best coverage with the most nuance?’”
In its citation, the Pulitzer board described the Star Tribune’s work as “powerful stories marked by thoroughness and compassion.”
Gutierrez, who served as OU Daily’s copy chief from spring 2021 to spring 2023, said he “credits everything” to the Daily.
“The Daily is where I learned how to be a journalist, …” Gutierrez said. “I was using everything and more that I learned at the Daily every single day during that coverage.”
Gutierrez is a multiplatform editor at the Minnesota Star Tribune, editing copy, working on the print paper and curating the publication’s home page.
Gutierrez, a San Antonio native, graduated from OU in 2023 with degrees in professional writing and political science.
In 2023, Gutierrez was named the 19th Edward Trayes Scholar, a national honor from the Dow Jones News Fund, a prestigious journalism program that offers training, mentorship and internship placements. Gutierrez was a 2022 Dow Jones News Fund editing intern at The New York Times.
Other Daily staffers who have shared in Pulitzer Prizes are Hailey Branson-Potts and Mark Potts in 2016 with The Los Angeles Times; David Fallis in 2016 and 2018 with The Washington Post; Dana Branham in 2018 with the Cincinnati Enquirer; Ryan Chittum in 2017 with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; Hannah Allam in 2022 and 2024 with The Washington Post and Seth Prince in 2001 with the Oregonian.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Natalie Armour. Lauren Brogdon and Sophie Hemker copy edited this story.
