After graduation, Nesmith worked as a part-time reporter with the
Plant City Courier in Florida and then taught 12th grade at Howey Academy from 1963 to 1964. His first full-time job in the news business was as an obituary writer for the
Atlanta Constitution. He continued with the
Constitution as a reporter covering the police, city government, and state politics. By 1968, Nesmith was the assistant city editor at the
Constitution. Nesmith worked on projects with the
Dayton Daily News, one of three Ohio newspapers owned by Cox. Nesmith was a finalist for the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1996, along with Carol Hernandez, Russell Carollo and Cheryl Reed, for his contributions on two articles, "Military Secrets" and "Prisoners on the Payroll." In the fall of 1997, the
Dayton Daily News published a series of seven stories titled "Unnecessary Danger" written by Nesmith and Carollo, reporting on flaws in the military's health care system and protections that specifically protected the military from lawsuits over medical malpractice such as the 1950
Feres doctrine and the 1943 Military Claims Act. The first article in the series explained: "Congress in 1986 passed a law prohibiting the release of any information about the quality of military doctors. Many states have similar laws, intended to encourage open discussions among doctors. But the military uses the federal law to protect the same types of information
state medical boards release every day." •
The Needle went Wrong, October 6, 1997. •
Too Many Patients Too Little Time, October 7, 1997. •
Special Licences for Some Doctors, October 8, 1997. •
Double Standards of Care, October 9, 1997. •
The Man in the White Coat was no Doctor, October 10, 1997. •
Laws and Rulings Shield Doctors, October 11, 1997. == Personal ==