Jeff Nesmith Explained

Jeff Nesmith
Birth Name:Hollis Jefferson Nesmith Jr.
Birth Date:28 June 1940
Birth Place:Hillsborough County, Florida, U.S.
Death Place:Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Education:University of Florida
Occupation:Journalist
Awards:Pulitzer Prize (1998)
Spouse:Achsah (Posey) Nesmith
Children:Two

Hollis Jefferson Nesmith Jr. (June 28, 1940 – January 13, 2023) was an American journalist and author.[1] During his time at the Dayton Daily News, he won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with Russell Carollo for uncovering mismanagement in military healthcare.[2]

Nesmith graduated with his bachelor's degree from the University of Florida School of Journalism in 1963. He was the author of No Higher Honor, published in 1999, a history of the USS Yorktown, frequently referred to as "Uncle Joe's boat."[3] Nesmith served on the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press steering committee from 1999 through 2002.[4]

Career

After graduation, Nesmith worked as a part-time reporter with the Plant City Courier in Florida and then taught 12th grade at Howey Academy from 1963 to 1964.

His first full-time job in the news business was as an obituary writer for the Atlanta Constitution. He continued with the Constitution as a reporter covering the police, city government, and state politics. By 1968, Nesmith was the assistant city editor[5] at the Constitution. He briefly worked at the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin before the paper "crumbled," returning to work with Cox News Service at the Washington D.C. bureau.[6] Nesmith worked on projects with the Dayton Daily News, one of three Ohio newspapers owned by Cox. In his last position with Cox, he served as Correspondent for Health and Science.[7]

Nesmith was a finalist for the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1996, along with Carol Hernandez, Russell Carollo and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll."

1998: Unnecessary Danger series

While working in Spokane, Washington, Nesmith and Russell Carollo heard about a doctor in the military who had been accused of a crime, and subsequently learned that military doctors were not required to be certified in the state where they practice. Nesmith (already a part of Cox Enterprises, owners of the Dayton Daily News), with Carollo, conducted a year-long investigation into the military healthcare system, concerned that such a low hiring standard "would result in hurting a lot of people," and "attract doctors with problems practicing in a civilian system."[8] [9]

In the fall of 1997, the Dayton Daily News published a series of seven stories titled "Unnecessary Danger" written by Nesmith and Carollo, reporting on flaws in the military's health care system and protections that specifically protected the military from lawsuits over medical malpractice such as the 1950 Feres doctrine and the 1943 Military Claims Act.[10]

The first article in the series explained: "Congress in 1986 passed a law prohibiting the release of any information about the quality of military doctors. Many states have similar laws, intended to encourage open discussions among doctors. But the military uses the federal law to protect the same types of information state medical boards release every day." During the year-long investigation, Carollo and Nesmith found 200 doctors that were "linked to incompetence and malpractice," including one doctor installed as a hospital commander in Germany who had been accused of malpractice 15 times over 14 years.

The reports outlined how the military system failed to meet the same standards and safeguards enjoyed by the civilian population; these flaws sometimes led to injury and death. The first article in the series was published on October 5, 1997. The series of stories is listed below.

The project won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting. In April 1998, the Associated Press reported that "after the series was published, the military promised Congress it would make more than a dozen changes to its medical system, and the Pentagon announced the creation of a civilian board to review malpractice cases."[17]

Personal

Hollis Jefferson Nesmith Jr. was born to parents Hollis Jefferson and Thetis Jefferson. He used his full name while writing for the Atlanta Constitution early in his career, deciding sometime after 1968 to be known as Jeff Nesmith.[18]

In 1966, Nesmith married Achsah (Posey) Nesmith, a journalist who also served as a speechwriter for U.S. President Jimmy Carter.[19] They had two children: Susannah Nesmith, a reporter and media specialist based in Miami,[20] and Jeff Nesmith, a designer and filmmaker based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Washington, D.C.[21] The Nesmiths resided in Alexandria, Virginia.

Nesmith died of cancer on January 13, 2023, at the age of 82.[22] Achsah died on March 5, 2024, at the age of 84.[23]

Awards and recognition

Notes and References

  1. Book: Brennan. Elizabeth A.. Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners. Clarage. Elizabeth C.. 1999. Greenwood Publishing Group. 978-1-57356-111-2. en.
  2. Web site: The 1998 Pulitzer Prize Winner in National Reporting. December 10, 2020. www.pulitzer.org. en.
  3. Book: Nesmith, Jeff. No Higher Honor: The U.S.S. Yorktown at the Battle of Midway. 1999. Longstreet. 978-1-56352-552-0. en.
  4. Web site: Former Steering Committee Members. 2020-12-11. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. en-US.
  5. Web site: Emerson. Bo. Journal-Constitution. The Atlanta. 'We did not do a good job covering the biggest story in my lifetime'. 2020-12-11. ajc. en.
  6. Web site: Jim Bentley and Jeff Nesmith. 2020-12-11. LikeTheDew.com. en-US.
  7. Web site: Jeff Nesmith C-SPAN.org. 2020-12-11. www.c-span.org.
  8. Web site: Journalists with Pulitzers have U-M ties . 2020-12-11 . www.ur.umich.edu.
  9. Web site: 2001 Pulitzer Prize Preview C-SPAN.org . 2020-12-11 . www.c-span.org . en-us.
  10. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 7 (main story) . 2020-12-11 . michaeljesse.net.
  11. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 1 (main story). 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  12. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 2. 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  13. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 3 (main story). 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  14. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 4. 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  15. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 5. 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  16. Web site: DDN Series: Unnecessary Danger – Part 6. 2020-12-11. michaeljesse.net.
  17. Web site: Pulitzer Prize Winners in Brief. 2020-12-11. AP NEWS.
  18. Book: Office, Library of Congress Copyright. Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1968: July-December. 1971. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. 2350. en.
  19. Web site: 2015-04-08. The Speechwriter's Life: "We Were Not Key Policy Advisors, We Were Writers". 2020-12-11. Pro Rhetoric. en-US.
  20. Web site: SusannahNesmith.com – writer, researcher, editor, educator. 2020-12-10. en-US.
  21. Web site: About – Jeff Nesmith . nesmithcreative.com.
  22. News: Jeff Nesmith, Pulitzer winning journalist, dies at 82 . Atlanta Journal-Constitution . February 10, 2023.
  23. News: Achsah Nesmith, who wrote speeches for President Jimmy Carter, has died at age 84 . ABC News . March 14, 2024.
  24. Web site: 1995 IRE Award winners. 2020-09-06. IRE. en-US.
  25. Web site: Press Release: Pulitzer Winners, Finalists. 2020-09-06. www.columbia.edu.
  26. Web site: ABC Anchor Receives IOP Journalism Award News The Harvard Crimson. 2020-09-06. www.thecrimson.com.
  27. Web site: [1998 · Dayton Daily News • National Reporting]]. 2020-09-06. en-US.
  28. Web site: Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy and Environment Writing. 2020-09-06. National Press Foundation. en-US.
  29. Web site: Society of Environmental Journalists: SEJ Awards for Reporting on the Environment 2002 contest winners. 2020-12-11. www.sejarchive.org.