Alabama Media Group Columnist Wins Pulitzer

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Alabama Media Group writer and long-time Birmingham News columnist John Archibald was named the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner for Commentary. Archibald won the award for his writing about Alabama politics in 2017, a year that was filled with bad press and corruption. Among the topics Archibald discussed in his award-winning commentary were the removal of the heads of all three branches of Alabama government and a controversial Senate election that saw Democrat Doug Jones defeat Republican Roy Moore.

According to Alabama Media Group, Dana Kennedy, administrator of the Pulitzers, cited Archibald's "lyrical and courageous commentary rooted in Alabama but has a national resonance in scrutinizing corrupt politicians, championing the rights of women and calling out hypocrisy."

Archibald began writing for The Birmingham News in 1986 and has provided commentary for the newspaper and AL.com since 2004.

The prize is the third in Birmingham News history. In 2007, Brett Blackledge of The Birmingham News won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for his exposure of cronyism and corruption in the state's two-year college system. The News also earned the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1991 for commentary and analysis about Alabama's unfair and inadequate tax system.

Photo from the Twitter account of John Archibald