Sometimes the truth is positive and inspiring. Sometimes the truth is negative and concerning.
By Bobby Ross Jr. | The Christian Chronicle
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jerry Mitchell is a Christian and a journalist.
To some readers in a hyperpartisan age, that description may sound like an oxymoron.
But Mitchell is a devoted follower of Christ. He’s a 1982 graduate of Harding University, a Christian university in Searcy, Ark. He’s a leader and Bible teacher in his home congregation, the Skyway Hills Church of Christ in Pearl, Miss.
At the same time, this man of deep Christian faith is a legendary Mississippi reporter.
Related: The humble faith of Jerry Mitchell, an American hero
His stories helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His long-awaited memoir, “Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era,” was published last year.
The Christian Chronicle’s staff and national board of trustees were blessed earlier this month when Mitchell traveled to Oklahoma Christian University in Oklahoma City. At the board’s semiannual meeting, he spoke about news coverage of difficult topics.
Mitchell recalled that a radio show host asked him once, “How can you be a Christian and a journalist?”
He was ready with a response.
“We’re actually both truth-seekers,” Mitchell told the Chronicle’s staff and board. “The thing about God’s word is, it doesn’t pull any punches. You get to see what Moses did, and you get to see what David did. And I think that’s kind of how I see journalism.”
This editorial appears in the May print edition of The Christian Chronicle.
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