Paul Giblin

Paul Giblin, political writer and co-winner of a Pulitzer Prize investigation published in the Tribune last year, will spend the next year in Afghanistan as a civilian spokesman for the U.S. military.

Giblin actually applied for the position about the same time that he and three other former colleagues launched the Arizona Guardian, a news web site covering the state Capitol. But he had to wait a number of months before learning he would head overseas to help U.S. military forces tell the world what they are doing in Afghanistan. The Guardian announced Giblin’s plans this morning in a note from publisher Robert Grossfeld:

“As a Pulitzer Prize winner, many assumed that Paul would eventually head off to the New York Times or Washington Post. And, I think, that is what makes his decision to go to work for the United States Army in a war zone so impressive.”

As Giblin has an ownership stake in the Guardian and is not an employee, I would expect him to return to covering state politics once his tour in Afghanistan is over.