“We are delighted with this year's class of Auburn Journalism Honors recipients and are grateful for the strong examples and inspiration these four have been to thousands of us,” said Advisory Council chairwoman Wanda Kenton Smith. “This is one of the strongest and most diverse classes to receive these annual honors.” The awards are:

The Advisory Council, a support arm of the AU Journalism Program, annually honors notable journalism professionals with its prestigious awards.

Tucker is a 1976 AU journalism graduate and current editorial page editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2007 for “her courageous,clear-headed columns that evince a strong sense of morality and persuasive knowledge of the community.” The native of Monroeville joined Cox Enterprises, parent of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 30 years ago. The Cox Foundation has also announced a $100,000 endowed scholarship gift to the AU Foundation in honor of Ms. Tucker. A Cox spokeswoman said the scholarship pays tribute to its three values of “talent, diversity and acting as a good corporate citizen.”

Blackledge is a general assignment and special projects reporter with The Birmingham News where he has worked since 1998. He received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism and the Associated Press Managing Editors public service award for his ongoing series on corruption and cronyism in Alabama's two-year colleges. He is a Baton Rouge native and a 1986 journalism graduate of Louisiana State University. He came to Alabama in 1993, joining The Mobile Register as a local government reporter. Blackledge began his career with the Associated Press in New Orleans and has worked in Jackson, Miss., Tulsa, Okla., and Washington, D.C.

Harvey has been editor-owner of The Advertiser-Gleam since 1967, succeeding his father who founded the newspaper. His work has been widely recognized as a stellar example of community journalism as well as being used for lessons in college classrooms. He worked at the weekly newspaper as a youngster and received a journalism degree from the University of Alabama. Before coming home to work in Guntersville with his father, the late Porter Harvey, he worked four years as a reporter in Columbus, Ohio, and nine years in Louisville, Ky. After his father's death in 1994, Sam Harvey wrote a book about his father and the paper he founded: “High Adventure: Porter Harvey and The Advertiser-Gleam.”

Smothers is Sports Editor Emeritus of The Gadsden Times where he retired in 2006. He joined the Times in 1961 as a sports writer and became sports editor in 1963. In his 45-year career there, Smothers amassed an array of awards and commendations. He covered everything from youth sports to high schools to college and professionals. He covered the Masters for 30 years and also covered NASCAR stock car racing. He is noted for his human interest columns and profiles of sports minded people across the community. Smothers is a DeKalb County native and attended Jacksonville State University, majoring in math and history. He previously worked at The Sand Mountain Reporter in Albertville, The Birmingham Post-Herald and The Chattanooga Free-Press before settling in Gadsden.

“This is our fourth class of Honors recipients,” said Honors Committee chair Roy Bain. “It is clear there is no shortage of deserving candidates for these awards.”