Southern News, Southern Politics: How a Newspaper Defined a State for a Century

Newspapers are a tough business, and no one knows that better than Rob Christensen, who was chief political reporter at North Carolina’s capital newspaper, the News and Observer, for decades. Here he tells the story of the N&O and how it helped shape modern North Carolina in complicated ways. It’s also the story of a family dynasty: four generations of the Daniels family owned and ran the N&O. They not only helped elect governors but also played an influential role in national American politics—family members served as political lieutenants to William Jennings Bryan, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman.

Christensen takes readers from the N&O’s early days at the turn of the twentieth century as the militant voice of white supremacy to its denunciation by segregationist Jesse Helms for “selling out the South” in the 1960s and finally to its current dwindling fortunes. By telling the story of one important regional newspaper, Christensen shows how influence and messaging affect the politics of a state and a region for generations.