Miami Herald editorial writer Isadora Rangel named finalist for the Pulitzer Prize

A series of incisive Miami Herald editorials highlighting the depth of dysfunction in the city of Miami’s government while calling for sweeping reforms was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize on Monday, the latest recognition for the Herald’s decorated editorial board.

Isadora Rangel, a member of the Miami Herald’s editorial board since 2021, was honored as a finalist for “Miami Dysfunction,” a collection of five editorials published over the course of 2023 that examined the scandals and political turmoil that defined Miami City Hall during a tumultuous year. The editorials also offered ideas for how the troubled city can rebuild public trust, increase voter turnout and improve the governance of Florida’s second most populous city.

“I’d like to think that we put the weight of the editorial board behind these ideas, and I hope that that matters,” Rangel said on Tuesday.

Rangel pointed to the work of the Herald newsroom, which operates separately from the editorial board, as a catalyst for the board’s analysis and commentary on City Hall’s shortcomings.

She said the editorials drew from the Herald’s coverage of Mayor Francis Suarez’s quiet side gig as a consultant for a Coconut Grove developer, which has led to state and federal investigations; reporting on the arrest of former Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla on corruption charges; and a $63.5 million civil judgment against Commissioner Joe Carollo after a federal jury found he pushed city employees to harass Little Havana businessmen as retaliation for supporting a political opponent.

“The genesis of ‘Miami Dysfunction’ was the feeling on the editorial board that the city was not being run on behalf of its constituents, but on behalf of those in power, and we felt that was counterproductive,” Rangel said.

Miami Herald Executive Editor Alex Mena said the recognition “underscores the vital role of journalism in fostering transparency and driving positive change in our community.”

“I am immensely proud of Isadora Rangel for being named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize,” Mena said. “Her insightful editorials, rooted in rigorous journalism, shed light on political scandals and advocated for meaningful reforms in Miami.”

The announcement marks the second year in a row the Pulitzer Board has honored the Herald’s opinion team. Amy Driscoll, then the deputy editorial page editor, won the Herald its 24th Pulitzer in May 2023 for her series “Broken Promises” — another body of work focused on holding local governments accountable in Miami-Dade County.

“We’re so proud of the recognition for Isadora Rangel’s editorial series Miami Dysfunction as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize,” said Driscoll, now the Herald’s opinion editor overseeing the board’s work. “That series spotlights the vital work needed in this community, and it helped spark a much-needed conversation. It’s gratifying that the Pulitzer board acknowledged the work of the Miami Herald opinion team for the second year in a row.”

The distinction also marks a posthumous laurel for Nancy Ancrum, who capped a 40-year career at the Herald by serving as the Herald’s editorial page editor for a decade before retiring at the end of 2023. Weeks after her retirement, Ancrum died, leaving a legacy that included two Pulitzer Prizes for the Herald’s opinion team. In 2017, Jim Morin won the Pulitzer for his editorial cartoons.

Rangel, in her own words, is a “proud immigrant,” born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and a graduate of Florida International University. She returned to Miami in 2021 after a stint as the opinion and engagement editor for Florida Today in Brevard County, the Space Coast’s major daily newspaper.

From late June through November, Rangel wrote five editorials sharply focused on the city of Miami’s problems and how to fix them. The Pulitzer jury described the work as “a scathing series that roots the city’s multiple political scandals in a troubled local democracy and champions electoral reforms.”

The winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing was David E. Hoffman of the Washington Post, for “a compelling and well-researched series on new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought.”

Since the Herald series was published, Miami voters elected two commissioners who ran on reform platforms, and even the embattled mayor floated major changes to the municipal government during a speech in January, repeating some of the reforms suggested in the Herald editorials.

The commission has yet to assemble a charter review commission, a panel to recommend changes to the city charter.

Rangel said she hopes the conversation about how to improve the city government continues, and she emphasized that the debate should include those who don’t want to see change.

“I welcome the people who oppose these ideas, too,” she said. “Honestly, we would like to see those discussions happen in public, even if some of these players think that these reforms are not valid.”

Read the Herald’s Miami Dysfunction series

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