Former editor reflects on civil rights coverage
By Jim Little | Community Editor | March 8It was a hot and muggy summer day in 1964 in a small Georgia town outside of Atlanta. The 1964-65 editor for The Auburn Plainsman was covering a standoff between civil rights demonstrators and a crowd of white townspeople for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Don Phillips was originally an engineering major, but decided to change his major to journalism because he said he wanted to graduate quicker. After graduating, Phillips went on to work for the United Press International wire service and became Atlanta bureau manager in 1969.