Saul grew up in New Albany, Mississippi.[1][2][3] In middle school, she wrote the "Snoop" column for the school newspaper.[3] In high school, she was the editor for the school's newspaper, and graduated in 1972 as part of the first fully desegregated class in New Albany.[3]
Saul entered the University of Mississippi in 1972 intending to pursue a medical career after graduation, which she saw as a better career opportunity than journalism.[3] She took journalism classes along with her pre-med studies and served on the staff of the yearbook and the school newspaper, the Daily Mississippian.[1][3] In 1975, she graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and membership in the Phi Kappa Phi honors society.[1][3]
Saul began her journalism career working for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, covering the state government and the state legislature.[1] In 1980, Saul, fellow reporter Patrick Larking, and photographers Laura Lynn Fistler and Tom Hayes earned The Clarion-Ledger the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association for their feature article on jail conditions in Mississippi.[4] In 1981, Saul and W. Stevens Ricks received the George Polk Award for Regional Reporting for their article "Mississippi Gulf Coast: Wide Open and Wicked."[5]
While working for The Plain Dealer, Saul, Mary Anne Sharkey, and W. Steve Ricks wrote a multi-part series in 1985 titled "A Law Unto Himself" that exposed the corrupt practices of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Frank Celebrezze.[6][7] Fallout from the series led to his electoral defeat in 1986.[6]
Saul joined Newsday in 1984[2][8] and was the paper's national reporter from 1994 to 2000.[3] Together with Brian Donovan, she earned the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting "[for] their stories that revealed disability pension abuses by local police."[8] Their investigation found a number of retired police officers in the state of New York receiving millions in disability payments for minor injuries.[9]
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, No Edition Time from 1953–1963 and the Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting from 1964–1984
