The Plymouth Independent names a Pulitzer winner as its next editor

The Plymouth Independent, a digital startup that ranks among the larger such projects in Eastern Massachusetts, has named a new executive editor. David Kidwell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist from Chicago, will assume the Independent’s top editorial position in January. He succeeds founding editor Mark Pothier, who will remain as a staff reporter.

According to the Independent’s announcement:

Kidwell has had an outstanding career in journalism, spanning nearly 40 years. He started as a beat reporter for small town newspapers, going on to become an investigative reporter at the Miami Herald for 15 years and then the Chicago Tribune for 12 years. More recently, he worked as an editor at two nonprofit investigative groups in Chicago, the Better Government Assn. (BGA) and Injustice Watch.

Kidwell has won two Pulitzer Prizes, most recently at the BGA, where he conceived, oversaw and edited a series of stories about dozens of fire deaths that occurred because of lax enforcement of fire and building codes by local officials. In 2001, he was a member of the Miami Herald team that covered the story of the exiled Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez.

“I am very excited to start this new adventure in Plymouth, and to be working with such a team of seasoned journalists,” Kidwell said. “I believe what you have been building is not only important to the people of Plymouth, but to the future of journalism. I can’t wait to get started.”

Pothier, a Boston Globe alumnus, announced in August that he was planning to step aside. That the Independent was able to attract someone of Kidwell’s stature to take his place is a testament to how attractive a stable nonprofit news organization is at a time when good journalism jobs are scarce.