Esquire piece on Alabama mayor who took his life after being outed for secret online life wins Pulitzer Prize
SMITHS STATION, Ala. (WIAT) — A piece exploring the life and death of F.L. 'Bubba' Copeland, a pastor and mayor of Smiths Station who took his own life days after a conservative news website outed him for wearing women's clothing under an online pseudonym, has been given one of journalism's highest honors.
Mark Warren, former executive editor of Esquire magazine who wrote 'Right-Wing Media and the Death of an Alabama Pastor: An American Tragedy' for the magazine last April, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, the organization announced Monday.
The story, which ran as 'A Death in Alabama' in the April 2024 print edition of the magazine, ran with the following subheading:
'Bubba Copeland was the heart and soul of his Alabama community– pastor, mayor, businessman. When a website exposed his deepest secrets, his life wasn't the only thing that was destroyed. An American story.'
In the announcement made Monday, the Pulitzer committee described the story on Copeland as 'a sensitive portrait of a Baptist pastor and small town mayor who died by suicide after his secret digital life was exposed by a right-wing news site.'
Copeland, 49, was first elected mayor of Smiths Station in 2016, where he would lead in the cleanup of the town following devastation from a tornado that tore through the area in 2019. On November 11, 2023, Craig Monger of 1819News.com published a story on Copeland detailing his online persona as a transgender woman, including photos he had posted online as well as alleged erotica.
When reached for comment about the photos, Copeland told 1819 News that he was not transgender but wore women's clothing as a way of 'getting rid of stress' and be a character.
'What I do in private life has nothing to do with what I do in my holy life,' Copeland told the website. 'Does this have any effect on me being mayor, that I sometimes put on a dress or sometimes put on makeup? Does that have anything to do whatsoever with me being mayor or being a pastor?'
The outlet, which started in 2021 under the umbrella of the Alabama Policy Institute before going independent in 2023, added that after the interview, Copeland 'promptly deleted the accounts and asked them not to be made public due to his family and position as a pastor.'
The day after the story ran, Copeland addressed the congregation at First Baptist Church of Phenix City, where he was pastor.
'I have been an object of an internet attack,' Copeland said. 'An article that was written about my capacity as the mayor [and] capacity as a pastor. The article is not who or what I am.'
Two days later, on November 3, 2023, 1819 published another story alleging Copeland had written fictional stories with violent themes against a local business owner. Later that day, Copeland committed suicide after leading police on a slow pursuit during a welfare check. He was 49.
Following Copeland's death, 1819 News released a lengthy podcast between CEO Bryan Dawson and editor-in-chief Jeff Poor, where they explained the decision to run the stories.
'We start with the question: well, he's mayor; does any of this impact his job as mayor, and this is where a lot of people in the media are trying to make it like 'Well, there was no sense in this. As long as he's doing a good job as mayor, you guys should've left him alone.' I don't know that that's true,' Poor said.
Poor also discussed Copeland's role as a minister, talking about how it was 'a little personal' for him as a fellow churchgoer himself.
'What if the face of my church… is engaging in this behavior,' he said. 'Do I have the right to know? Should I know that?'
1819 News has continued to stand by its coverage of Copeland. On Nov. 11, two days after Copeland was buried, the website ran an opinion piece by Jennifer Oliver O'Connell under the title 'Bubba Copeland and the sin of envy,' calling him 'a sick man.'
'Like a viral infection, Copeland spread his sickness to others, encouraging a lifestyle that, according to the tenets of his Baptist faith, is neither recognized nor approved,' O'Connell wrote. 'So, whether you are on board with the whole LGBTQ+ agenda or not, the level of deception and deceit alone is frightening.'
Poor declined to comment for this story.
In an interview with Nieman Storyboard, an extension of Harvard University's Nieman Foundation that explores journalism, Warren spoke about wanting to do the piece not just as a way to explore Copeland's tragic end, but how his death impacted the community.
'Last fall, when I heard about what happened to Bubba Copeland, I felt his death like a shot to the solar plexus,' Warren said last August. 'I felt some kind of innate kinship to the people in those towns. I was struck by the initial public bellow of grief and love that they had expressed for Bubba — unafraid, unabashed and beautiful — and wondered if the same thing would have happened in my hometown if, God forbid, the same thing had happened there. It struck me as different, and remarkable, and I wanted to understand it.'
Following the Pulitzer announcement, several people took to social media to sing Warren's praises.
'A shout-out to Mark Warren for his well-deserved Pulitzer Prize for feature writing,' The Atlantic CEO Nicholas Thompson wrote on X. 'This story, about the death of an Alabama pastor, was one of the absolute best things I read last year.'
'During my dozen of so years at @esquire, nobody was as generous about sharing their time, talents, advice etc. as Mark Warren,' said Andy Langer, senior director of live music and entertainment at the University of Texas. 'A Texan, true mensch, super-talent and now, a Pulitzer winner…'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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