By Vinny Porco

Former Cardinal editor Kyeland Jackson has won a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest honor.

The Minnesota Star Tribune announced May 4 the publication won a newsroom-wide Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. The team of reporters was recognized for their extended coverage of the Aug. 2025 Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in Minneapolis.

Former Editor-in-Chief Jackson spoke with The Cardinal May 13 about the award and his decade-long journalism career.

Jackson began writing for The Cardinal in Oct. 2015 as a result of encouragment from Faculty Advisor Ralph Merkel. Almost instantly, he stood out as a prolific reporter. “He was passionate about learning journalism and perfecting his reporting and writing,” Merkel recalled. “He even audited my Newswriting class in the summer.”

With only one school year of reporting under his belt, Jackson was promoted to Editor-in-Chief in Summer 2016. He spent three semesters in the role, graduating in Dec. 2017.

During that time, the University of Louisville was plagued by scandal. President James Ramsey resigned amidst embezzlement allegations as well as the infamous “stripper scandal” tied to U of L men’s basketball recruiting. Additionally, long-time Athletic Director Tom Jurich and Head Coach Rick Pitino were both fired. There were budget concerns, rampant personnel issues and reputation concerns.

The U of L community needed reporting, and Jackson got to work. He led a team of talented student journalists not only by editing and advising, but also by doing much of the most important writing himself.

“Kyeland was a truly inspirational leader of The Louisville Cardinal,” Merkel said. “He presided over the paper during some of the most turbulent times at U of L. He set a high bar for student journalism. His staff adored him, also.”

Portraits of Kyeland Jackson and other incoming Cardinal editors were taken late in Spring 2016 in anticipation of a new staff. (File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal)

Following his time at The Cardinal, Jackson spent time with Louisville Public Media. In June 2020, he moved north to work for Twin Cities PBS as a data reporter.

Jackson told The Cardinal that his stories during the time of Covid didn’t call for much face-to-face interaction. However, he said reporting on data sets that revealed things such as disparities between different groups of Minnesotans helped him learn the local media environment.

Such stories broke down systematic issues through data during a time in which Minnesotans were reacting to the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others.

“It was such a hard time for the state, for everybody,” he said. “It really exposed the kind of vulnerabilities, the issues that had been bubbling up there.”

Eventually, Jackson’s hard work landed him a position at the Twin Cities’ largest newspaper, The Minnesota Star Tribune as a general assignment reporter. When he joined in 2022, The Star Tribune had just recently won a Pulitzer Prize for their 2020 breaking news coverage surrounding the murder of George Floyd.

On Aug. 27, 2025, tragedy struck yet again when a shooter opened fire early in the morning on a back-to-school mass for Annunciation Catholic school. Reporters from the Star Tribune immediately began coverage of the deadly shooting that took the lives of two children and injured 17 others.

Jackson and company reported crucial details of the shooting and covered events such as vigils, advocacy rallies and student walkouts. They wrote about police, older students and school staff whose heroics saved lives. Through it all, they captured the frustration and sorrow of the Twin Cities community.

Due to the nature of the situation, Jackson said the work was emotional and heavy for journalists and community members alike.

“I covered a walkout for a middle school,” he said. “Students were protesting after Annunciation, mentioning how they were scared they might get killed or shot.”

When asked how coverage of the Annunciation shooting stood out in his career body of work, he said the following:

“It was one of the most community centric breaking news stories that I’ve worked on. It wasn’t a lot of talking heads or governors, presidents, public relations officers speaking. It was just people.”

Gathering information and speaking to many community members was a significant undertaking, an effort Jackson described as “all hands on deck.” Coverage was coordinated and carried out thanks to diligent communication in morning meetings, over the phone and on the messaging platform Slack.

Personally, Jackson credits his time at The Cardinal for equiping him with journalistic skills used in this award-winning reporting. He and other student journalists went to long board and committee meetings, transcribed tape and followed up on bits and pieces of information.

“Ralph would hammer into our heads all the time of being there, being on the ground, that if something’s happening to do shoe-leather reporting and to get there,” he recalled.

Just about a decade into his career, Jackson now has journalism’s most prestigious award under his belt.

File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal