Brett Blackledge
Encyclopedia
Brett J. Blackledge is a reporter for The Associated Press in Washington D.C.. While working for The Birmingham News
, he won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize
for investigative reporting
for a series on alleged nepotism
and cronyism
in Alabama's two-year college system.
Blackledge was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
and is a 1986 alumnus of Louisiana State University
. He began his career that year with the Associated Press, and later worked for The Journal Newspapers in suburban Washington, D.C., Education
Daily and The Mobile Register. He went to work for The Birmingham News in 1998.
While with the News, Blackledge contributed to Alabama AP Managing Editors Association Award-winning stories on the 2003 conviction of Bobby Frank Cherry
for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, which took place in 1963.
Blackledge's multi-part investigative series on the two-year colleges delved deeply into financial records kept by the system, exposing a number of elected lawmakers on the system's payroll without clear duties. The system's chancellor was fired, federal and state investigations opened, and new safeguards for public accountability promised in the wake of the exposé. The series earned Blackledge a 2006 Alabama Associated Press Association Award. The newspaper entered the multi-part special report for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
, and it was named a finalist in that category before the committee awarded it the prize for investigative reporting instead.
Blackledge is married to Stephanie Brooke Dowdy, a veterinarian. They have one daughter, Anna.
The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News is the principal daily newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and the largest newspaper in Alabama. The paper is owned by Advance Publications...
, he won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for investigative reporting
Pulitzer Prize for Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Reporting was awarded from 1917 to 1947.-Winners:*1917: Herbert Bayard Swope, New York World, for articles which appeared October 10, October 15 and from November 4 daily to November 22, 1916, inclusive, entitled, "Inside the German Empire."*1918: Harold A...
for a series on alleged nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
and cronyism
Cronyism
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy....
in Alabama's two-year college system.
Blackledge was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
and is a 1986 alumnus of Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
. He began his career that year with the Associated Press, and later worked for The Journal Newspapers in suburban Washington, D.C., Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
Daily and The Mobile Register. He went to work for The Birmingham News in 1998.
While with the News, Blackledge contributed to Alabama AP Managing Editors Association Award-winning stories on the 2003 conviction of Bobby Frank Cherry
Bobby Frank Cherry
Bobby Frank Cherry was an American white supremacist and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963...
for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, which took place in 1963.
Blackledge's multi-part investigative series on the two-year colleges delved deeply into financial records kept by the system, exposing a number of elected lawmakers on the system's payroll without clear duties. The system's chancellor was fired, federal and state investigations opened, and new safeguards for public accountability promised in the wake of the exposé. The series earned Blackledge a 2006 Alabama Associated Press Association Award. The newspaper entered the multi-part special report for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
The Pulitzer Prize for Public Service has been awarded since 1918 for a distinguished example of meritorious public service by a newspaper or news site through the use of its journalistic resources. Those resources, as well as reporting, may include editorials, cartoons, photographs, graphics,...
, and it was named a finalist in that category before the committee awarded it the prize for investigative reporting instead.
Blackledge is married to Stephanie Brooke Dowdy, a veterinarian. They have one daughter, Anna.
External links
- Brett Blackledge profile at pulitzer.org