Jack Nelson (journalist)

John Howard "Jack" Nelson (October 11, 1929 – October 21, 2009) was an American journalist. He was praised for his coverage of the Watergate scandal, in particular, and he was described by New York Times editor Gene Roberts as "one of the most effective reporters in the civil rights era." He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960.

Born in Talladega, Alabama, Nelson's father ran a fruit store during the Great Depression. He moved with his family to Georgia and eventually to Biloxi, Mississippi, where he graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1947.

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 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."

He joined the Los Angeles Times in 1965 and led its Washington, D.C. bureau for 21 years after being named bureau chief in 1975. He led the paper's coverage at the time of the Watergate scandal.

In 1970 Nelson wrote a story about how the Federal Bureau of Investigation and police in Meridian, Mississippi shot two Ku Klux Klan members in a sting bankrolled by the local Jewish community. One of the Klan members, a woman, died in the ambush. The head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, tried to kill the story, which appeared on Page One, by smearing Nelson, falsely, as an alcoholic. Nelson played an important role in uncovering the truth about the Orangeburg Massacre. He discussed current events on television and radio news shows.

Jack Nelson died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Bethesda, Maryland on October 21, 2009, aged 80.