Journalist Honored for Civil Rights Coverage

Jerry Mitchell, who worked to uncover evidence in the unsolved killings of civil rights activists, was recognized at Columbia University for his effort to bring Klan killers to justice.

At 46, Mitchell is the youngest recipient of the John Chancellor Award. As the 2005 winner he was awarded $25,000 and was honored for journalism that shows courage, integrity, curiosity and intelligence and that epitomizes the role of journalism in a free society.

Particularly noteworthy, Mitchell's reporting 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 Medger Evers, and Edgar Ray Killen, who was found guilty in June, 2005 for orchestrating the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers in Neshoba County, Mississippi.