John Howard Nelson (October 11, 1929 – October 21, 2009) was an American journalist. He was praised for his coverage of the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

, in particular, and he was described by ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' editor Gene Roberts as "one of the most effective reporters in the civil rights era." * *https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/business/media/22nelson.html * https://www.rcfp.org/journals/the-news-media-and-the-law-fall-2009/jack-nelson-pulitzer-prize-wi/ * https://www.ajc.com/news/local/jack-nelson-pulitzer-prize-winning-journalist/1auaqW8kghd68MXl4vtkGL/ * https://www.ajc.com/news/local/jack-nelson-investigative-reporter-celebrated-carter-center/GWNHbpkiOBUZVlOaKHeUYN/ * https://nieman.harvard.edu/news/2009/10/pulitzer-prize-winner-jack-nelson-dies/ * https://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/pulitzer-prize-winner-jack-nelson-dies-028556 * https://www.politico.com/story/2009/10/jack-nelson-embodied-golden-age-028592 * https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/10/22/jack-nelson-1929-2009/ * https://www.deseret.com/2009/10/22/20347698/former-l-a-times-journalist-jack-nelson-dies-at-80/ * https://theweek.com/articles/500333/jack-nelson * https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-us-obit-nelson-102109-2009oct21-story.html * https://spjdc.org/2009/10/dc-spj-hall-of-fame-member-jack-nelson-passes-away/ * https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20091022_Jack_Nelson___Investigative_reporter__80.html
"Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Jack Nelson Dies at 80"

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via

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(October 21, 2009) * https://www.newspaperalum.com/2013/02/they-just-called-himscoop-jack-nelsons-revealing-posthumous-memoir.html He won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

in 1960.

Youth

Nelson was born in

Talladega, Alabama Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state's la ...

. His father ran a fruit store during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Nelson moved with his family to Georgia and eventually to

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, where he graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1947.

Early career

After graduating from high school Nelson began his journalism career with the ''Biloxi Daily Herald''. There he earned the nickname 'Scoop' for his aggressive reporting. He then worked for the U.S. Army writing press releases before taking a job with the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'' in 1952. He won the Pulitzer for local reporting under deadline in 1960, citing "the excellent reporting in his series of articles on mental institutions in Georgia."
"Local Reporting"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 2013-11-06. *https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/jack-nelson-0

''Los Angeles Times''

Nelson joined the ''Los Angeles Times'' in 1965. He played an important role in uncovering the truth about the 1968

Orangeburg Massacre The Orangeburg Massacre was a shooting of student protesters on February 8, 1968, on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States. Nine highway patrolmen and one city police officer opened fire on a ...

, where South Carolina Highway Patrol officers shot and killed African-American students protesting racial segregation in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Nelson obtained the victims' medical records, which showed the police had shot some of the black students in the back of the head. In 1970 he wrote a story about how the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

and local police in

Meridian, Mississippi Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, ...

, shot two

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

members in a sting bankrolled by the local Jewish community. One of the Klan members, a woman, died in the ambush.

FBI Director The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a United States federal law enforcement agency, and is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The FBI director is appointed for a ...

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

tried to kill the story, which appeared on the ''Los Angeles Times'' front page, by smearing Nelson, falsely, as an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

. In the early 1970s, Nelson led the ''LA Timess award-winning coverage of the

, and then served as the paper's

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Bureau Chief for 21 years, from 1975 to 1996. During that period, he was a frequent guest on television and radio news programs.

Works

* Jack Nelson, ''Scoop: The Evolution of a Southern Reporter'' (Jackson, MS:

University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi (UPM), founded in 1970, is a university press that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi (i.e., Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jackson State University, Mississippi Sta ...

, 2013)

Death

Jack Nelson died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

at his home in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

on October 21, 2009, ten days after his 80th birthday.

Notes

References

External links

Jack Nelson oral history interview
1993 October 30, ''Georgia Government Documentation Project'',

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...

Library

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* *
Jack Nelson papers, 1940-2011

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

br>Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Jack 20th-century American journalists American newspaper reporters and correspondents American male journalists Los Angeles Times people Journalists from Georgia (U.S. state) Journalists from Mississippi Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting winners Mass media people from Bethesda, Maryland People from Biloxi, Mississippi Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Maryland 1929 births 2009 deaths