Phillip��M.��Bailey��(’07)����as in disbelief when his former coworker texted him those words last May. He had to check the official��Twitter account for Pulitzer Prizes to prove��to himself��it was true.����

And it was.����

In May, the Courier Journal��received��the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for its��investigative��reporting��of more than 600 pardons and commutations that former Kentucky Governor��Matt Bevin issued during his final weeks in office.��Bailey worked on two of the stories that led to the Pulitzer, often cited as the highest achievement in journalism.

“To know that your individual work��contributed��to that win is an incredible feeling,” Bailey said. “Even��just��being a Pulitzer nominee is incredible, so it is truly an honor to be in this club of people, from Ida B. Wells to Kendrick Lamar.”����

Bailey��launched��his journalism career��at UofL,��writing op-eds for The Cardinal,��the university’s��student newspaper, as well as an��independent black student newspaper��on campus.��He was a��political��science major, Pan-African Studies minor,��McConnell Scholar,��Porter Scholar��and a self-described “rabble-rouser”��during his time��on campus.����

“UofL was my training ground for��coalition��politics and life,” Bailey said. “There were people from all walks of life and all��kinds of different��backgrounds��there. So,��I learned how to��come together and��make decisions when there were those who don’t always agree, whether it was through student government, writing op-eds, philanthropic work��or��protests.”��

Bailey remembers meeting��other��students who came to��UofL and noted the importance of��a diverse campus.��������

“You’re going to have to know how to deal with people who aren’t exactly like you��in life. Whether��you meet someone who is gender non-binary or a Christian conservative, it is so important for everyone to have encounters with different people, especially in a country as increasingly diverse as ours,” Bailey said. “UofL is��in��the major metropolitan city in the state, so you get that��diversity��there.��

“I also learned how important it is to give voices to all groups of��people,��so everyone’s best interests are represented, like having the student government president on the board of��trustees. That’s����hat UofL taught me.”����

Bailey, a��comic book fan,��sees a link between superheroes and journalists, which drives his passion��for��his career.��

“There are two ways��heroes define themselves and I think journalists do,��too. There’s the superman mantra –��to��protect the innocent��–��and��the Batman mantra –��to��punish the guilty,” Bailey said. “Journalism is the place where regular people are able to challenge those in power and hold institutions accountable in order to protect the innocent and punish��the��guilty.”��

Bailey��recently��began a new job as a national correspondent��for USA Today.��He’ll still be based in Louisville, but will be covering issues across the country. He’s grateful to be staying in the city that has so far helped him establish a successful career.��

“I’m proudest because I haven’t had to leave��Louisville. If you’re talented and do the work, the bag will come to you,” Bailey said.��“I don’t need to live in the suburbs or move to Atlanta or New York. You can be excellent right��here.”��

As a Fulbright winner, Rae Hodge will embark in September on a year-long study at the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies, enrolled in the university’s MSc Computational Journalism program. Designed to prepare early-career journalists to lead data-driven news start-ups, the program allows students take rigorous coding classes while learning advanced investigative techniques and business management practices.

Hodge’s academic trajectory and path to journalism has been unique. After graduating from Nelson County High School in 2003, Hodge took a 6-year hiatus, traveling the country with an educational non-profit organization before starting classes at Jefferson Community College in 2009, earning a competitive internship with the Kentucky state government in Frankfort. She transferred to UofL in 2011 and worked with faculty to craft a specialized liberal studies degree in political journalism, the first of its kind at the school.

During her time at UofL, Hodge bolstered the student newspaper, giving The Louisville Cardinal its first capital correspondent as she reported on higher education issues from Frankfort in 2012. She swiftly rose to editor of the Cardinal where she worked with Professor Ralph Merkel of the university’s communication department in 2013 to help new students receive course credit for their work in the newsroom.

Hodge likens her journalism education to that of an early field medic. “I was equipped with rudimentary training and whatever tools I could scavenge, dashing from subject to subject, learning as I went and trying not to hurt anyone. Most of my articles would have ended up looking like Frankenstein’s monster, were it not for ‘Saint Merkel.’ He truly embodies the innovative, D.I.Y. spirit that UofL’s Arts and Science faculty has come to be known for.”

According to Hodge, Merkel was crucial to her academic and professional career, overseeing her customized practicums as she combined them with online coursework and grew the Cardinal.

“Everything about my journalism education has been academically unorthodox but wholly traditional to the history of the trade. What read as internships on my resume were actually apprenticeships under Kentucky’s best reporters. I was chasing politicians across the campaign trail, teaching the News Pyramid to freshmen writers in the evening, and finishing my biology homework from a laptop on the Senate floor,” Hodge said.