Legendary Mississippi reporter Wilson F. “Bill” Minor was kind enough to reflect on his career in the pages of the current issue of Nieman Reports. But that’s not the first time that experiences from his six decades of vigilant journalism in Mississippi have appeared in the magazine. For our Winter 1978 issue, Louisiana State University professor James S. Featherston took a trip to Jackson to interview Minor at the burned and boarded-up office—the windows had been smashed three times in the past year and a burning cross set alight outside—of his Capital Reporter newspaper.
Featherston describes the small community paper, which Minor says comes out “weekly but never weakly,” as being:
“A gaudy newspaper typographically, it features big, bold headlines and generous splashes of often lurid color. Usually the contents are just as sensational. … Wrong-doing ‘sacred cows’ go through the wringer that is Minor’s typewriter and come out looking like hamburger meat. Corrupt politicians, indiscreet businessmen, Ku Kluxers, underworld figures and assorted other miscreants are similarly treated.”
But his newspaper is in bad financial shape when Featherstone visits. Major advertisers have stopped buying space after he’d published information about illegalities or revealed embarrassing details about business practices in the paper. Still, Minor is optimistic about his situation, telling Featherston that “There is nothing to compare with the satisfaction of writing a story that has an impact on society and results in changes being made.”
Also included is Minor’s October 6, 1977 “Eyes on Mississippi” column, about the governor refusing to fire a tax assessor who had been caught with more than $20,000 missing from his account.
