Lucy Morgan

2009 Distinguished Alumni

The renowned Florida journalist started her career at the St. Petersburg Times in the early 1970s when women rarely worked in news rooms and never in investigative reporting. Her relentless pursuit of truth led to dangerous confrontations with drug smugglers and corrupt public officials. Twice she refused to divulge her sources and was sentenced to jail. The Florida Supreme Court eventually overturned her sentence and granted reporters limited rights to protect confidential sources. In 1985, she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. In the 1990s, Morgan wrote about caring for her dying mother, which resulted in legislation changing elder rights. Lucy Morgan was chief of the St. Petersburg Times capital bureau in Tallahassee for 20 years, retiring in 2006 and remained as a senior correspondent until 2013. She was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame and Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame. The Florida Senate named its press gallery after Morgan in honor of her history covering the legislature. In 2009 she received the inaugural PHCC Distinguished Alumni Award.