[2] In 2008, Messenger joined the Jefferson City bureau of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as a capital correspondent and political columnist.
He was named editorial page editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in July 2012 and became a metro columnist in September 2016.
[1] Messenger and colleague Kevin Horrigan were named finalists for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.
They were cited "for editorials that brought insight and context to the national tragedy of Ferguson, MO, without losing sight of the community's needs.
"[3] In 2019, Messenger won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary "for bold columns that exposed the malfeasance and injustice of forcing poor rural Missourians charged with misdemeanor crimes to pay unaffordable fines or be sent to jail.