Staff Report
MONTGOMERY—The Alabama Political Reporter is pleased to announce Pulitzer Prize winning editorial writer, Joey Kennedy, as a featured political columnist.
“Kennedy’s voice has been an important part of Alabama’s political discussion for many years. We are pleased and proud to share that voice with our readers,” said APR Editor-in-Chief, Bill Britt.
Kennedy served on the editorial board of The Birmingham News for 24 years, where he wrote about tax reform, education reform, immigration reform, marriage equality, and many other issues affecting Alabama. He has been named the State’s top editorial page columnist five times; most recently in 2012 for a column on Alabama’s struggle with its troubled anti-immigrant law, HB56.
Kennedy and his colleagues won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing in 1991, for a series on the need for tax reform in Alabama.
He and his colleagues were finalists for two other Pulitzer Prizes, the first in 1994, for a series encouraging education reform in Alabama, and the second in 2006, for a series of editorials explaining why The Birmingham News reversed its support for Alabama’s death penalty.
“At APR, we strive to present a wide view of politics, which incorporates all sides, not just one constituency or another,” said Britt. “Our goal is to inform, educate, and alert the citizens of our State as to what is really going on in their State government. Kennedy’s writing is an example of that spirit.”
Kennedy is also active in the community, where he has been honored on numerous occasions for his work. In 2012, he received the Incarnation Award from Beloved Community Church for his coverage of immigration. That same year, he received a UAB Outstanding Alumni Award for the College of Arts and Sciences. In 2014, the Greater Birmingham Humane Society Auxiliary honored Kennedy with the Abe Krawcheck Award for “acts that demonstrate kindness to all living creatures.”
Joey Kennedy has worked as a journalist for four decades. He currently serves as back-page columnist for Birmingham’s B-Metro magazine, and hosts a weekly opinion segment for Alabama TV.
He and his wife, Veronica, operate a news and information website focusing on animals: Animal Advocates of Alabama at
In addition, Kennedy teaches writing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The Kennedys, who have been married 35 years, live with a grumble of pugs and a cat on Birmingham’s Southside.
Kennedy’s column will appear every Wednesday at alreporter.com starting July 15.
