Harold Norman asked Jim Nesbitt:

What were the biggest stories you covered as a newsman?

Jim Nesbitt Oh, jeez -- this brings back a memory from a job interview I once had. I knew the background of the editor asking me this question and how he'd never risen above being a suburban bureau chief. So, when I rattled off a few examples -- presidential campaign coverage (in and out, not full time), Senate and gubernatorial campaign profiles (including Jim Hunt versus Jesse Helms), airline crashes, hurricanes, high-profile murders and dragnets, etc -- I saw his jaw tighten and his lips purse. Didn't get the job. In three decades, I covered everything except a war. But my favorite stories were trend pieces on issues like grazing and logging rights on public lands out West, the rise of legalized gambling across the U.S., the militia and Christian patriot movement, the digital divide between rural and urban America and anything to do with the border between the U.S. and Mexico, including immigration policy. I was fortunate to work for outfits that would send me to where the action on these issues was the hottest.

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