Romando Dixson, sports editor of the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, will become the first Black editor of the Peoria Journal Star when he begins his new job July 20. (Photo supplied)

 

By CHRISTOPHER HEIMERMAN
For Illinois Press Association

PEORIA – Romando Dixson wasn’t aware of the full extent of his role as the new editor of the Peoria Journal Star. Not until he read the paper one day.

The 39-year-old is the first Black editor of the newspaper that serves one of the nation’s most segregated communities.

“That’s something I didn’t even know until the article came out,” he said, laughing a little. “I’m honored to have this opportunity, and I understand where that distinction will lead people to see me as a role model and something to strive for. Especially in these times, there’s so much racial unrest in the country.”

He’s seen the data. In Peoria, where more than a quarter of the population is Black, the average white household makes 50 percent more money than the median Black household. White residents in Peoria are twice as likely to earn a college degree.

The news and opinion company 24/7 Wall Street consistently placed Peoria in its top 10 worst cities for a Black person to live. This past November, Peoria checked in at Number 7 – just ahead of Number 8 Rockford and Number 9 Springfield.

Unrest erupted May 31, in the form of 27 businesses being burglarized and 14 others damaged.

“People see lots of room for improvement in the city,” Dixson said. “Hopefully as a newspaper, we can be part of addressing those issues and help Peoria turn things around.

“Peoria can become a place people want to live, not a place they want to leave.”

 

Leaving Jackson

Dixson’s colleagues, who double as his close friends because, as he puts it, he’s “married to the job,” say no one is better-equipped to lead the Journal Star.

“I can’t think of a person I’d root for more, to go on and run a paper,” said Mary Irby-Jones, the top editor at the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, who worked with Dixson for less than a year. “Your newsroom needs diversity of all sorts to be able to cover a community – from religion to race, to all sorts of thoughts and ideas. Romando understands how important the work we’re doing for the community is. It’s a great opportunity for the community to have a leader like Romando.”

Dixson was hired 17 years ago by Gannett, while the ink was still drying on the degree he earned at Michigan State University. He’s predominantly worked in sports, but has put in more than his share of time as a crime reporter.

As the Clarion-Ledger’s sports editor, he has led deep dives as Mississippi State University and Ole Miss replaced their head football coaches. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s graciously helped out the news side with the landslide of stories that keep pouring in – including super-charged issues such as the removal of Confederate imagery from the state flag.

“All eyes are on us, in everything we do, all we cover, and everything we write,” Irby-Jones said.

Dixson has won many awards, including an honor he and the staff at the Asheville City-Times in North Carolina won for coverage of the local police department’s handling of a crash involving the chief’s son.

Dixson said South Carolina has invaluable tools that give the public access to police officers’ disciplinary records and job histories – tools every state and local government should provide.

“We as journalists always want transparency and FOIA laws,” he said. “In South Carolina, they don’t give you everything you want, but they have some unique ways for you to really dig into an officer’s background.”

“Having Romando’s background and having done all the things he’s done and lived the places he’s lived, it gives you different perspectives – where are the challenges and places we can connect, grow and heal the community,” Irby-Jones said.

 

Outside the office

Dixson will tell you he has no life outside his work. He’ll not be telling the full truth.

Before working in Mississippi, Dixson worked with Roberta Lloyd at the Greenville News, the third-largest paper in South Carolina.

“He’s pretty much the coolest guy I know, and he’s a professional in every way,” said Lloyd, who worked in advertising but was riveted by Dixson’s stories and blown away by his process. “He would just spend so much time learning and researching. You know how some articles are an overview? He would do a deep dive and spend time with the family to tell the whole story.”

He also researched his stories by traveling and experiencing all he could, including various cuisines, she said.

“He’s a foodie and a lover of culture. He’s a great traveler, and I think that makes him better at his job,” Lloyd said. “If you don’t appreciate life, you’ll get burned out.”

They’d take short-ish trips to Charlotte, North Carolina, to shop – notably for clothes.

“He likes to look good, and he likes my advice,” Lloyd said. “He can dress himself, though.”

They’re also part of a group of eight professionals who would escape to Las Vegas every October, around both Dixson and Lloyd’s birthdays.

“In Vegas, you can go to all seven continents, you know,” Lloyd said, laughing.

In the office, she saw him as a vital resource for his colleagues – whether he was sharing ideas or welcome questions. After all, Irby-Jones said Dixson always had the answers.

“He’d also help co-workers grow and challenge them,” Lloyd added. “He’ll help them learn from how he’s grown. He is cool, fun, and easy to listen to and get guidance from.”

 

His leadership style

Having the answers is only one piece of the puzzle. Dixson firmly believes reporters, editors, everyone in a newspaper’s trenches, they all need to feel empowered and fulfilled.

“I want to be in a place where people want to come to work, and where they feel appreciated,” Dixson said. “I will push people and have standards about the way things should be done … but people are the lifeblood of this business. I want to make sure I take care of the people first, whether it’s celebrating their accomplishments or providing the structure for them to do their jobs well, or supporting them in tough times.”

In addition to print media, Dixson tested the waters in TV and radio at MSU.

“There’s something about that camaraderie of working in a newsroom, getting to know your colleagues and putting out a newspaper you’re proud of every day,” he said. “Some journalists will say they have a love-hate relationship with the profession, and hopefully there’s a lot more love than hate.”

He’s not blind to the reality that the modern newsroom must find a way to do more with less.

“Very few people are in newsrooms these days, in our company,” he said.

Dixson, who plans to start at the Journal Star on July 20, scrambled to tie up loose ends his last week in Jackson, the week of July 6. He had to accept that he’d handle just three of the 12 features in the paper’s long-celebrated series on the top prep football players in the state.

“It’s a scramble to finish everything and you have to come to grips with the fact that you won’t be able to finish everything,” he said. “There are bigger issues than the top football player in the state, but it’s still important to the kids.”

A big sports fan, he shudders to think of the uncertain future of events.

“This series is something people take a lot of pride in, but it’s also awkward when there might not even be a football season,” he said.

Eager as he is to get to work in Peoria, leaving the South is bittersweet. Dixson’s going-away party will be held virtually.

“That’s going to be hard,” he said. “I’m used to moving around, but there are so many good people in this newsroom, and every newsroom I’ve been in.”

It’s a mutual admiration society, and Irby-Jones said as much as she’ll miss her colleague and friend, this is a transition that needs to be celebrated.

“He is so awesome at what he does, I can’t even be upset. He’s going to do a magnificent job.”