One of the best moments in John Archibald’s life came in 2018, when he won a Pulitzer Prize for columns published by Alabama Media Group, the largest news publisher in the state.
He surpassed that on Monday. Mr Archibald won a second prize, for local coverage, as part of a team of journalists, including his son, Ramsey Archibald, who investigated a council police force.
“I feel stunned,” Mr Archibald, 60, said in an interview when the win was announced. “It’s a great honour. And to do it with your child – I tell you, that’s gold.
AL.com’s four-person team — which also included investigative editors Ashley Remkus and Challen Stephens — took home one of two Pulitzer Prizes won Monday by Alabama Media Group, an astonishing feat for a newsroom of about 110 journalists. The organization also won the commentary award for columns by Kyle Whitmire, a political columnist who explored how Alabama’s Confederate history continues to influence the state today.
As readers leave traditional print newspapers and business owners close newsrooms, fewer news organizations have the financial resources to investigate local government and sustain top journalism.
AL.com is navigating through that economic headwind. Alabama Media Group, owned by Advance Local, a national newspaper chain, published three newspapers: The Birmingham News, Mobile’s Press-Register, and The Huntsville Times. Kelly Ann Scott, AL.com’s editor-in-chief, announced in February that the company would stop printing those papers, citing changing reader and advertiser habits, and would direct readers of those papers to AL.com.
But Ms. Scott said in an interview Monday that Alabama Media Group had more journalists than it did five years ago.
“Local journalism is so important in America right now,” Ms. Scott said. “It’s so great to see stories like this and commentary from people who love the places they’re from, coming to the national conversation.”
Ramsey Archibald, 31, a data reporter for Alabama Media Group, joined his father and Mrs. Remkus in January 2022, a few months into the reporting project. The team was looking for tips that accused the local police in the town of Brookside of using aggressive policing to boost its revenue. The stories eventually led to the police chief’s resignation and triggered a state audit.
The Pulitzer win is the second for Ms. Remkus, who also won in 2021 for a years-long investigation into the harm police dogs inflict on Americans. Ms Remkus said in an interview that it took a second win before she realized the first had not been a fluke. She celebrated her latest prize win by adopting a cat, Samuel Pulitzer Seaborn, and she’s looking forward to a second rescue after the crowds die down.
Ms. Remkus added that she was optimistic about the future of local news in Alabama, despite the company’s recent decision to stop printing newspapers.
“Whether it’s in the form of a newspaper or online, it’s about journalism,” Ms Remkus said before pausing to let Samuel enter the room. “And I don’t think the delivery method is stopping us from doing that job.”
Ramsey Archibald celebrated the Pulitzer victory at his home in Birmingham on Monday. He said in an interview that the investigation into Brookside was done primarily through in-person visits to the city and phone calls and video conferences with his colleagues because his company had not yet established a formal return plan. In fact, Alabama Media Group employees in Birmingham are currently between newsrooms, preventing the team from popping champagne next to cubicles under fluorescent lighting.
John Archibald said he had been concerned about the prospect of his son entering the journalism industry, which has been fraught with economic anxiety in recent decades. But he said he knew from experience that it was futile to try to get in his son’s way.
Also: He was out of town on a reporting assignment when Ramsey Archibald was hired.
“I would never discourage him because from my own life I know that all that matters is how you feel about your work,” said John Archibald.
