Rural communities in southwest Georgia

Lucille Lannigan covers rural communities in Southwest, Georgia, for the Albany Herald. She was born and mostly raised in Key West, Florida, and served as co editor-in-chief at the newspaper of the island's only high school. In 2022, Lannigan interned on CBS-affiliate 10 Tampa Bay’s digital desk, where she covered topics like Florida's changing abortion laws and mastered the art of creating digital news content. During her senior year at the University of Florida, Lannigan worked as a Pulitzer fellow, covering Florida’s phosphate industry and producing an accountability feature on Florida’s reclaimed mining lands. Lannigan wrote investigative and political content on Florida’s 2023 legislative session for WUFT's Fresh Take Florida. Her byline has appeared in the Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Times, Tallahassee Democrat, and more. Her love for journalism stems from her time at The Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida's independent, student-run paper. Over two years, she reported on race, equity, health and the environment and served as the metro desk editor. She graduated in 2023 with a journalism bachelor's degree from the university.