Brett J. Blackledge (born 1963) is former editor of '' The Daily Advertiser'' in Lafayette, Louisiana. He previously worked as Regional Investigations Editor for USA Today Network in Florida and as Investigations Editor at the ''

Naples Daily News The ''Naples Daily News'' is the main daily newspaper of Naples, Florida, and Collier County. It is owned by Gannett and has a circulation of more than 40,000. It was previously owned by Milwaukee-based Journal Media Group, which was formed by a ...

'' in Florida. Before joining the Naples paper in October 2014, Blackledge was Public Service and Investigations Editor at The ''News Journal'' in Wilmington, Del. He worked as a reporter for 26 years before joining the Delaware newspaper, including working as a reporter for

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newsp ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

While working for ''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its tw ...

'', he won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for

investigative reporting Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years res ...

for a series on alleged nepotism and

cronyism Cronyism is the spoils system practice of Impartiality, partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs ...

in Alabama's two-year college system. Blackledge was born in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

and is a 1986 alumnus of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

. He began his career that year with the Associated Press, and later worked for The Journal Newspapers in suburban Washington, D.C., ''

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

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 (June 20, 1930 – November 18, 2004) was an American white supremacist, terrorist, and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young A ...

for the 1963

16th Street Baptist Church The 16th Street Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. In 1963, the church was bombed by Ku Klux Klan members. The bombing killed four young girls in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement. The church is stil ...

bombing. 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.2006 Alabama Associated Press Association Award Winners
" 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.

References

External links

Brett Blackledge
profile at Pulitzer.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackledge, Brett 1963 births Living people Writers from Birmingham, Alabama Writers from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting winners American newspaper reporters and correspondents Associated Press reporters Journalists from Alabama