Sullivan has been with The Hudson Reporter Associates group of community newspapers for nine years. "Fair, accurate and thorough" are the words the judge for NJPA Journalistic Achievement Award used to describe Sullivan's writing.

The judge wrote that reporters needed to "write in a such a way as to hold reader interest to the very end. They must be tough and compassionate. Al Sullivan appears to be a person who regularly demonstrates these qualities in his work."

The judge also wrote that Sullivan "appears to have a great deal of courage in taking on people and subjects that are apt to make enemies. Sadly he's a rarity in journalism today at all levels. Hudson County and The Hudson Reporter are better because of this gifted and courageous writer."

Caren Lissner in her letter of recommendation for Sullivan says that her reporter is "incredibly talented at handling both hard investigative stories and more creative features" and that he "sets an example for other journalists to follow with his hard work, concern for his community, and unflagging enthusiasm for reporting."

In this past year alone, Lissner says that Sullivan covered a major corruption scandal that sent the Hudson County executive into the witness relocation program. She also says that Sullivan has continued "his tradition of top-notch human interest stories, a tradition that earlier resulted in the publication of a book of his newspaper profiles, Everyday People, by Rutgers University Press."

Other stories Sullivan has covered in the past year include an investigative piece on drinking and the Secaucus volunteer fire department. Sullivan learned that several firehouses ran their own bars. Digging deeper, he learned that alcohol consumption at volunteer firehouses has been a concern in several towns across the nation, partially because many people join the departments as a social outlet. Lissner said that although "the possibility of drinking helps keep the departments staffed," the drinking "could create a safety hazard." Lissner said that a week after Sullivan began working on a story a deputy fire chief was taken off a fire scene, because as Sullivan's sources told him, the person was "acting irrationally, possibly due to drinking before the call came in."

As a result of Sullivan's reporting, Lissner says that the town council passed an ordinance forbidding social drinking in the firehouses. Outside groups renting the space for parties can serve alcohol, but firefighters taking part in the events are prohibited from responding to a fire.

For the past few years, Sullivan has kept watch on the contamination left over from a metal finishing plant in Secaucus. Lissner says that neighbors of the plant have expressed health concerns for year and "have often been pooh-pooed by officials." She says that Sullivan often has been the only reporter writing about these concerns, some of which have been proven valid with tests. These and other environmental stories by Sullivan earned him an award form the local branch of the national Riverkeeper Association last year.Lissner said that Sullivan "contributed valiantly to our team coverage of the World Trade Center Tragedy by spending the day with the Secaucus Office of Emergency Management workers, and has followed up with sensitive stories about people in his community who were affected."