Congratulations to Brett Blackledge and The Birmingham News
News reporter Brett Blackledge received the Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting today in recognition of his hard work exposing corruption in Alabama’s two-year college system.
Blackledge received the honor, the highest in American journalism, for his 14-month investigation of Alabama’s two-year college system, in which he reported corruption, cronyism and nepotism on a wide scale. The award was made by the Pulitzer Prize Board after Pulitzer juries examined hundreds of submissions by newspapers and wire services throughout the country.
“What’s remarkable about this award is it basically affirms what we do every day,” said Blackledge. “There’s nothing magical about this. It’s 98 percent of the stuff we do every day. It’s extraordinary, yet very ordinary.”
Congratulations, Mr. Blackledge. Well done!
Want to read the articles? There’s a list at the end of the linked story.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:23 am
Hey, I know him! Or I knew him, when he lived in Mobile. You go Brett!!
April 17th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
Del, you know everyone. This is pretty cool, huh?
April 17th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
The secret is to have a friend who writes for the paper. This was over ten years ago, and it wasn’t much more than an acquaintance–he maybe came to dinner at the house once–but I remember him as a really nice guy, and very funny too, good company. It’s great to see a big prize go to an unassuming guy who works hard to do a good job for its own sake, instead of some hotdogger who is gunning for a Pulitzer with every turgid metaphor he cranks out.
April 17th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
“…turgid metaphor…”
I love it!
April 25th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
[...] Blues reader Don pointed me to this excellent editorial in the Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle, addressing a couple of the people in the center of the two-year college scandal. The two-year system has turned into a jobs program for the Alabama legislature, and everything was rocking along just fine until Brett Blackledge of the Birmingham News broke the story (and won a Pulitzer Prize). [...]