In 2007, Lisa Gartner wrote for North by Northwestern, advising students on what to eat on a night out. In 2015, Gartner wrote for the Tampa Bay Times, investigating five failing elementary schools.

On Monday, Gartner won the Pulitzer Prize for local reporting.

Gartner (Medill ‘10) said she believes local reporting can make a tangible difference in people’s lives. In an investigation of public schools in Pinellas County, Florida, Garter and her colleagues Michael LaForgia and Cara Fitzpatrick found that a 2007 school board decision led to “de-facto segregation” and resulted in 95 percent of black students failing reading or math.

The team of journalists followed the story by “tracking promises” the school board had made, including increased resources, and reporting on them when they went unfilled.

But winning the esteemed journalism prize was never Gartner’s original intention — instead, she wanted to understand why some of the worst-performing schools in Florida were so close to each other and what caused their low test scores.

“For us, the focus was more on the community and if we could start a conversation or shed more information on this issue or create change,” said Gartner, who also worked for The Daily. “It’s been so amazing to see how the community here has taken off in a charge and embraced this.”

Spencer Kornhaber (Medill ‘09), a founder of NBN, said the Pulitzer announcement was no surprise. Kornhaber, now a staff writer at The Atlantic, said he and Gartner developed a close friendship because of the time they spent working at NBN.

Even though Gartner first started writing in the lifestyle section, Kornhaber said her writing skills helped her advance until she eventually became editor in chief her junior year.

“Lisa is someone who embodies the idea that journalism can be fun and innovative and not traditional, while also adhering to the bedrock principles that have guided it for so long and that Medill stands for,” said Kornhaber, a former Daily staffer.

Gartner said she loves local reporting because she can write stories that matter to people. During her time at NBN, she said she aimed to write about topics that were relevant to students. She said she still receives emails about “Why I chose Northwestern,” a story she wrote urging students to challenge themselves and pursue their interests in college.

Alicia Capetillo (Medill ’10) lived with Gartner all four years of college and was an entertainment editor when Gartner was the editor in chief. Capetillo, now an assistant editor at Sparkpeople.com, said late nights spent in the McCormick Foundation Center showed Gartner’s determination and attention to detail, qualities that would later become essential in her reporting on the “Failure Factories” for the Tampa Bay Times.
“I’m sure this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Capetillo said. “She’s always going to be pursuing that next story. She’s definitely earned … a little bit of a breather, but I have no doubt in my mind she’s going to keep surprising people.”

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Twitter: @ericasnoww