Cynthia Tucker

For the politician, see Cynthia Tucker (politician).
Cynthia Tucker
Born March 13, 1955
Monroeville, Alabama, USA
Residence Washington, D.C.
Alma mater Auburn University
Occupation Visiting Professor
Employer University of Georgia
Known for Commentary
Board member of
 International Women's Media Foundation (Advisory Council)
Website
Tucker's political commentary at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cynthia Tucker (born March 13, 1955), is a visiting professor at the University of Georgia’s journalism school and a former columnist and blogger for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. In 2007, she received a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2007 for her work at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was also a Pulitzer finalist in 2004 and 2006. Tucker is on the Advisory Council at the International Women's Media Foundation.[1]

Early years

Tucker was born March 13, 1955 in Monroeville, Alabama, the daughter of Mary Louise Marshall Tucker, a high school English teacher and John Tucker, a middle-school principal.[2] She was born during the early years of the American Civil Rights movement, in an era of racial segregation; she did not attend an integrated school until she was 16.[2] She attended Auburn University, where she majored in English and journalism and wrote for the student newspaper, The Plainsman.[2]

Career

After graduation in 1976,[3] she began work for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) as a reporter. In 1980, she left Atlanta and the AJC for a job at The Philadelphia Inquirer. Shortly thereafter, Tucker decided that she wanted to be a foreign correspondent in Africa, but the Inquirer considered her too inexperienced for the assignment. Tucker set out on her own, traveling around Africa and freelancing for six months. She then returned to Atlanta, where she was rehired as a columnist by the AJC.[4]

Tucker was a Nieman Fellow by Harvard University in 1988.[3] She was promoted to editorial page editor of the AJC in 1990. In 1993, the National Women’s Political Caucus awarded Tucker their Exceptional Merit Media Award.[4] In 2005, Tucker received the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award as well as an honorary Doctor of law degree from Colby College.[3]

Tucker blogged regularly and wrote two columns a week for both the print and web versions of the AJC. Her columns were syndicated to over 40 U.S. newspapers. Those columns earned her nominations for the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 2004 and 2006 before her win in 2007.[4] She is regarded as politically liberal.[5]

In 2006, Tucker was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists.[3] In July 2009, Tucker moved to Washington, D.C., as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's political columnist.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Board and Staff from the International Women's Media Foundation website
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cynthia Tucker from the Encyclopedia of Alabama
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Cynthia Tucker biography from the Universal Press Syndicate
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Oberholzer, Kristi. "Cynthia Tucker learns meaning of work". The Plainsman. Retrieved 2007-07-18.
  5. ↑ "Cynthia Tucker." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 61. Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2010.
  6. ↑ Cynthia Tucker to write Washington political column for AJC

External links