In each of Alabama’s largest cities, we know there are issues that matter to you that need more coverage every day, whether it’s digging into the Birmingham Water Works Board, police policy in Huntsville or new school systems in Baldwin County.

We are expanding our investigative team to do exactly that for you.

Our new Alabama Local Investigative Team will bring you more in-depth reporting about the issues that matter to you, more local investigative reporting where you live and more local journalists in Alabama.

We’re hiring a team of four journalists to be based in Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile who will dig into the local issues, problems and questions you have about government, authority and the places we call home.

This team of three reporters and an editor will be focused on ensuring that public business is conducted in public, focusing on the local issues in the state’s three largest metros and holding local leaders accountable for their decisions. We expect this team to inform local policy, help our communities focus on solutions to some of our most persistent problems and elevate the experiences and voices of those unheard in our cities.

This team will be led by Investigative Director Challen Stephens, who won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Stephens recently led AL.com’s investigative work on the series Banking on Crime, including exposing policing-for-profit practices in Brookside, Alabama. That work, which recently was a finalist in the Online News Association’s national journalism contest, led to the dismissal of criminal charges in Alabama, the passage of new state laws, the launch of a state investigation and more.

Stephens currently directs a team of eight reporters who examine similar issues throughout the state. This new team combined with all investigative reporters in our organization will create one of the largest teams of investigative journalists in Alabama — and the Southeast

The impact of our statewide investigative reporting has been significant.

Their work has freed people from jail — more than once. Our findings this year led to lawsuits and resignations, caused state officials to launch multiple investigations and prompted the DOJ to get involved. Courts have forced police videos to be made public. Polluters have shut down and been fined.

Their reporting drew action from the governor’s office and spurred change to the unemployment system. Legislators have funded solutions identified in our work. Our reporting has forced leaders to confront their pasts or explain their own policies. We’ve explored troubling criminal cases and tracked problematic arrests and examined police shootings.

Since 2018, AL.com journalists have won two Pulitzer Prizes and earned a finalist spot for a Pulitzer, as well as earning honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Goldsmith Prize, Online News Association, National Association of Black Journalists and more.

The work of this team of journalists will primarily be published on AL.com, the state’s largest digital news site, or in The Lede, a new daily e-edition in Huntsville, Birmingham and Mobile focused on local news in each city.

Are you interested in joining this team? Here’s more information on the jobs: local investigative editor, investigative reporter in Birmingham, investigative reporter in Huntsville and investigative reporter in Mobile.

Do you have an issue or concern that you think this team should tackle? Or, are you interested in collaborating with our journalists on a project? Email me at [email protected].