The Pulitzer Prize Board announced yesterday that Alabama Media Group Columnist John Archibald won the prize for commentary, marking the third Pulitzer for the company.
Archibald’s winning work consisted of a variety of topics in Alabama ranging from women’s issues, to Gov. Robert Bentley’s downfall as governor, and capped off with the U.S. Senate election that consumed the news cycle in 2018.
In the announcement, the prize commission noted that Archibald’s work won “For lyrical and courageous commentary that is rooted in Alabama but has a national resonance in scrutinizing corrupt politicians, championing the rights of women and calling out hypocrisy.”
Finalist for the Commentary prize included columns about the rising costs of housing in California featured in the Los Angeles Times and a series of in-depth columns in the New Yorker dealing with race in America.
Congratulations @JohnArchibald, winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Commentary! pic.twitter.com/yC8vHYJZK1
— Kyle Whitmire (@WarOnDumb) April 16, 2018
“John’s signature outrage comes because he believes the people of Alabama deserve better,” Michelle Holmes, vice-president of Content for the Alabama Media group, said in a news release. “His desire to root out corruption comes because he believes the little guy needs someone looking out after him in a state where bad things happen behind closed doors.”
Another work that pertained to Alabama was the Investigative Reporting Award, which was awarded to the Washington Post for reporting on Roy Moore during the Alabama Senate Election.
The Post, in a series of investigations, uncovered that Moore pursued relationships with underage girls and allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in the late 1970s.
While Moore denied the allegations, the Post’s reports were largely credited with his loss in December, which marked the first Democratic win for a U.S. Senate seat in Alabama since the mid-1990s.
