Albert Scardino is an American journalist and former publisher of ''

The Georgia Gazette ''The Georgia Gazette'' was a weekly alternative newspaper in Savannah, Georgia that took its name from Georgia's first newspaper, also founded in Savannah in 1763. Its owners and publishers were Marjorie Scardino and Albert Scardino. It was awa ...

'' who is known for winning the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style ...

in 1984.

Early life and education

Scardino was born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and grew up in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, where his father, Dr. Peter Scardino, practiced medicine. He graduated from Savannah Country Day School. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College in 1970, he went on to get his Master of Arts in journalism at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

. At Columbia, he was night editor of the '' Columbia Daily Spectator.''

Career

On April 10, 1978, he started ''

'' with his wife Majorie on $50,000 raised among family and friends and the two managed the daily operations of the newspaper as publishers and maintained a staff of around twenty. The newspaper was famous for its investigative journalism that exposed the corruption of Sam Caldwell, who was later convicted of fraud conspiracy. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his editorials exposing the corruption and ineptitude of local and state governments. However, their style of journalism did not appeal to many locals, and the paper occasionally met resistance from the officials, including then mayor John Rousakis. Circulation of the newspaper was meager and hovered between 2,500 and 4,000. Eventually, financial constraints forced the couple to shut down the newspaper in 1985. Scardino was later hired by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' as an editor and worked there until 1990, when he was hired by mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enteri ...

as his press secretary, a role he served until his resignation 1991. He later moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

with his wife after she was promoted to the CEO of the Economist Group and worked as a journalist and executive editor of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' from 2002 to 2004. He also served as a governor of

The Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, a director of

Media Standards Trust The Media Standards Trust is a British media think tank formed in 2006. It carries out research on issues in the media sector. It also advocates for press freedom as well as industry quality, transparency and accountability. It is a registered cha ...

, and judge on the

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

jury in 2008. Outside of his journalism career, he owned Notts County F.C., the world's oldest professional association football club, in a futile attempt to help it get out of debt.

Personal life

In 1974 he married

Marjorie Scardino Dame Marjorie Scardino, , FRSA ( Morris; born 25 January 1947) is an American-born British business executive. She is the former CEO of Pearson PLC. Scardino became a trustee of Oxfam during her tenure at Pearson. She was criticized by ''Pr ...

(née Morris), who was raised in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and received her BA from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the ...

and JD from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

. She became the first female CEO of a FTSE 100 Index company when she was appointed as the chief executive of British publisher Pearson plc in 1997. The couple has a son, Hal Scardino, who was a child actor known for playing the protagonist in ''The Indian in the Cupboard''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scardino, Albert American newspaper founders American newspaper editors Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing winners Columbia College (New York) alumni People from Savannah, Georgia UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni Editors of New York City newspapers The New York Times editors The Guardian journalists