http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS/511220351/1002/NEWS01
November 22, 2005 Mitchell given journalism award for civil rights coverage Clarion-Ledger reporter, 46, is accolade's youngest recipient The Clarion-Ledger An interview with Jerry Mitchell will be aired today on Fresh Air with Terry Gross on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The hour-long program begins at 3 p.m. Clarion-Ledger investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell has been named the 2005 winner of the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism from Columbia University for his 16-year effort to bring Klan killers to justice. At 46, Mitchell is the youngest recipient of the award, whose previous winners include veteran Mississippi newsman Bill Minor as well as several New York Times correspondents; Jim Wooten, who filed stories for ABC News from 40 countries to report on upheaval around the world; and the late Mary McGrory, who reported on Washington for more than five decades. The $25,000 annual John Chancellor Award, administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism, recognizes and rewards a journalist whose reporting over time shows courage, integrity, curiosity and intelligence and epitomizes the role of journalism in a free society. Mitchell will receive the honor Nov. 29 at a black tie celebration at the University's Low Library. Mitchell for 16 years worked to uncover evidence in the unsolved killings of civil rights activists. His reporting has led to the conviction of four Ku Klux Klan members, beginning with the 1994 conviction of Byron De La Beckwith for the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers. Most recently, Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty in June for orchestrating the 1964 slayings of civil rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman in Neshoba County. "Jerry Mitchell is deserving of this award because of his dogged pursuit of the truth," said Clarion-Ledger Managing Editor Don Hudson. "He has done strong, hard-nosed journalism throughout his career at the newspaper. Just look at all the civil rights cases of the past. Jerry has played a key role in putting a lot of criminals away." Mitchell "has a heart for people and a tremendous sense of justice," said Executive Editor Ronnie Agnew. "While so many were perfectly willing to turn away from civil rights atrocities, something inside Jerry wouldn't allow him to do so." David Halberstam serves on the board of the John Chancellor Award and was part of the selection panel. "Mitchell pursued these stories after most people believed they belonged to history, and not to journalism," Halberstam said in a news release. "But they did belong to journalism, because the truth had never been told, and justice had never been done. "As each of the guilty convictions was finally handed down, it has been news of the highest order, and Jerry was there still covering the story." The John Chancellor Award, established in 1995, honors the legacy of the television correspondent and longtime anchor for NBC News. "This award doesn't belong to me," Mitchell said. "It belongs to those who fought so that all Americans could be free. It belongs to those who never gave up hope and never gave up their belief in justice. It belongs to those who work with me and all those who have made Mississippi a better place." ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give at-risk students the materials they need to succeed at DonorsChoose.org! http://us.click.yahoo.com/wlSUMA/LpQLAA/E2hLAA/7gSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
