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Esquire won a 2025 Pulitzer Prize Monday for its Alabama feature on a "Baptist pastor and small-town mayor who died by suicide after his secret digital life was exposed by a right-wing news site.�� In the Feature Writing category, Mark Warren, won for "A Death in Alabama," published in April 2024. It takes place in Phenix City, Alabama.Warren follows the death of Smith "Bubba" Copeland and how after his death by suicide in 2023, "his life wasn't the only thing that was destroyed."Days before his death, 1819 News published photos of Copeland dressing as a woman."This is a story about just that—what God thinks," Warren wrote. "It’s also a story of identity and exposure, of revenge and public humiliation. Of deep love and senseless loss, and the unending grief of a small town. And secrets. It is a story about secrets." The site published another article after local people, including a minor, were found in the photos. They would later outline their reasoning for releasing the story in a podcast amid public backlash.Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones took Copeland's electronic devices and did not find any evidence of criminal misconduct.Copeland's body was turned away by the two Baptist cemeteries in Smiths Station, where he was mayor. When family and friends were asked what they would say to 1819 News, they told Warren "they are required to love them and will be praying for them."If you or someone you know needs help, you can talk with the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or sending a text message to 988, or you can chat online here. Hearst is the owner of Esquire and �������� 13. The Houston Chronicle also won a Pulitzer Prize and is owned by Hearst.