From a little boy growing up in a farm community to one of United States (US) enterprising journalists, New York Times, Washington correspondent, Ron Nixon’s life inspires hope. His story typifies the saying that great things spring from little beginnings. For 27 years, Nixon has brought his experience to bear on America’s journalistic landscape. His incisive investigative pieces have earned him a place in the world of investigative reporting. Nixon visited Nigeria for a workshop organised by International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR). In this interview with Evelyn Osagie, he shares his journey to greatness.
How easy is it, practising journalism in the US?
It is not easy. Journalists, I think, are the same, no matter where you go. We complain about our editors; we complain about the hours we work. They assign us stuff and we don’t like it but we’ve got to do it anyway – that is happening throughout journalism. We face the same thing at the New York Times. For most part, you do great work and get to meet people. I got to meet all kinds of people whom I never thought that I would meet. I started out as a sportswriter covering high school football. We had typewriters at my first newspaper.
My first interview in journalism was with Whitney Houston. I started in 1987 and she had a concert in the town I was working in, so they sent me to interview her and Jonathan Butler, the South African singer who opened for her.
Like I said I’ve met lots of people whom I never thought that I would meet. The rock star Bono wrote me a really nice handwritten note that I still have after I did the on his “Red” campaign and that felt was cool. I am sure there were a lot of things that they didn’t like but he took the time out to write me a three-page note. This guy is a multi-millionaire, one of the biggest rock stars on the planet; and he is writing me, kid from a place of 500 people, a note. I got to interview Rwanda President, Paul Kagame. And what was interesting about it was we sat down and talked; and that was just like two men talking. I was telling him about my experience in the military and he was saying that he misses being in the military what was interesting about him. And his staff was always coming in to say, “Mr President we have to go”. He just enjoyed sitting there and talking to someone. I never would have thought that I would be interviewing presidents of countries and people like that. Anyways, it has been interesting and I hope that it continues. I hope that I have another 27 years with which to practise. If I don’t, it’s been great and I am sure I’ll find something else to do.
Some argue that oftentimes state-owned media houses usually avoid criticising the government, how true is it of those in America?
I don’t think that it is necessarily true. People think of Voice of America (VOA) as state owned, but they do critical stuffs on the US government. And sometimes people just don’t like it. I am not saying that every time they go and criticise the US government because they are the US government. But I think oftentimes they do criticise. We don’t have newspapers owned by the state – it is just not an American phenomenon. Most of the media houses are privately owned. It is not subject to government oversight, you don’t have to have a license to be a journalist. Anybody can be a journalist. There are times accreditation is necessary, such as if you want to cover the US Congress, then you have to get a ‘congressional pass’. We have guidelines among ourselves but the constitution gives freedom of the press, so the US media takes its cue from that.
How was it growing up?
I am from a little tiny town of about 500 people in a place called Lauderdale, Mississippi. It is close to the Alabama border. Many people weren’t going to college. Most of them work in agriculture, cutting timbers. That was what most people did. It was a family thing – as little boys, you did that with your father. Your father did, his father did it and that is what you did. And there was a factory. That was kind of stuff that I grew up in.
So, growing up, I didn’t really know anybody who had gone to college. One of my mother’s younger sisters was the only person that I knew went to college. And my mother’s went to college but she didn’t finish because she had me. But I didn’t know that at the time. My dad didn’t finish high school. At that time, kids had to go work to foot the family. School was not really an option, you had to go out, help in the farm and make a living. And that was not just something that I wanted to do.
At what point did you decide you wanted to toll a path different from norm?
The first time that I realised what was going on. I felt differently. In school, they are teaching you about writers, you are learning the alphabets and how to count; and I thought that was exciting. You met these black people who were teachers. This was the first time, you are seeing professional black people – and you are like ‘whoa’! There were some really good teachers – because not all of them were good – that encouraged you. My guidance counsellor said I shouldn’t even try to go to college because I was not a college material that I should just go work in the factory.
Why did she say so, was it a racial thing?
She was black too. I don’t know what her motivations were or what she was thinking. She helped other people go to college – a young woman that I went to school with said: “Miss Nelson helped me”. All I know is that she telling me not to just made me want to do it more.
How did that incident inspire the journalist you’ve become?
I didn’t set out to say that I want to work at the New York Times someday’. I just knew I didn’t want to be there (hometown). I am glad that I worked at The Times: it’s a great place, it’s a great career but it wasn’t in my mind when I was there, thinking that I need to go work for the New York Times. I just wanted to get out of there (hometown). When I look at some of my classmates now, they look old; they look like people who are beaten down. it is depressing…I don’t want to do that. People have this image of America that people go to Harvard and Yale; we come out and get good jobs, drive BMWs that is not true. There are a lot of poor people in the US. There people who struggle, people who work during the day and go to school at night. You see people who are 70 something years old getting their degrees for the first time. But the opportunity is there. I think that is one of the amazing things about the US.
In course of your schooling, did you also have to work alongside your studies?
Yes. I worked at restaurants and other places and on my break, I would study. And then at night, I would study, get up in the morning and do the whole thing over again. I worked at the Burger King, then at this chicken place called Mrs Winters as a cooked.
What advise do you for young Africans who have the image of America that you mentioned earlier?
One has to exercise some caution because America is not that way. Of course, there is tremendous wealth in America. It is the biggest economy in the world. But not everybody has wealth. There poor people who grow up there. I mean if you at Ferguson, Baltimore or all these places where there is uprising, what it tells you is that it is not a perfect system. You look at Trayvon Martin, who got killed and nobody goes to jail. A child gets killed by a guy, a wannabe cop, who was just out cruising. Obviously, blacks, African Americans do suffer but there are tremendous opportunities there because you see people like Oprah Winfrey and Shander Realms, who have some of the tops shows on TV. And that is what President Barak Obama talks about and people say he’s talking down to blacks by saying that racism is not a barrier. Although it can be a barrier, it is not the barrier to achieving greatness. You’ve got to try; you may fail but you’ve got to try. I failed at a lot of times. I first started out, working at a small black newspaper, and I was telling Evelyn that we would get paid on Friday and rush to the bank to withdraw first because they didn’t have money and everybody else had a car and I didn’t. So, I am trying to get my cheque first and run so that I can get to the bank, which was half-a-kilometre down the street, before they do. So, it hasn’t always been rosy.
What kept you going at those moments?
I just thought that I can sit here crying and complain but once I finish crying and complaining, I am still in the same condition so I may as well try something. It may not work but at least try. And that is the thoughts that kept me going. We don’t know what we can do. I had no idea I would one day be a writer. My grandmother used read magazines and newspaper to me. One day she read me this article in the National Geographic magazine about Kenya. And I said: ‘hey, I am going to go there one day!” And she was like “okay baby!” I didn’t if she believed it or not but I most certainly did. And I have been to Kenya more than once. That kind of thing is unimaginable. Here was a woman who didn’t finish school because she had to work but she is encouraging her grandbaby to do whatever and not think that you can’t do stuff. So she encouraged me to do whatever I set my mind on.
How do you feel when you’ve achieved what you set out to?
That is the easy part: achieving what you’ve set out to is the easy part. The hard part is that you’ve got to stay there. So you have to work; got to produce. I didn’t set to cover riot or stuff like that but it my job. So I did the best job that I can. Just like when Baltimore’s happened, I put in 12 hours a day and went where other people weren’t.
People that once you’ve achieved a certain level of success that you are good or done. But you’ve got to stay there. As a musician, you can rest on just one CD; you’ve got to keep producing CDs. It is the same with if you are an artist, screenwriter or scientist; because two years from now, nobody is going to care. So you’ve got to keep doing it: compete with younger people who are just coming out schools, people with different skills and qualifications, and you got to always stay on top of what you are doing.
