Rebecca P. Johnson (A&S ’23) is part of a more than 75-member Chicago Tribune reporting team that recently won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Local Reporting. The distinction is a remarkable achievement for an early-career journalist who once expected to become a physician instead.
Johnson graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She joined the Tribune shortly after graduation as a six-month intern and was later hired as a breaking news reporter.
Her path to journalism began unexpectedly at Pitt.
“I’ve always liked reading and writing, but probably the first real interest I had in journalism, to be honest, was watching the show ‘Gilmore Girls’ when I was younger,” Johnson said. “But I never really considered it as a career path until I joined The Pitt News.”
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