According to this interview in Editor and Publisher (Birmingham Pulitzer: Prize Honors ‘Basic Daily Reporting We All Do’), Brett Blackledge’s community colleges story was original submitted in the local news category, then moved to public service, and then won in the category of investigative journalism. More than that, however, the story reports that Blackledge views his work as the “bread-and-butter stuff” of everyday daily newspaper reporting. Someone invite this guy to the EWA conference in LA next month. I want some of what he’s got.
UPDATE: Dallas Morning News reporter and columnist Josh Benton points out that EWA members like Dan Golden have won Pulitzers in the past, and that the Blackledge stories only tied for second in the EWA investigative reporting category this year. “Finally, empirical proof that EWA has higher standards,” quips Benton.