During World War II, he moved to Washington, D.C., and worked in the press division of the Office of Censorship.
[3] According to an obituary, Bill showed a strong interest in journalism by publishing his own neighborhood newspaper when he was only eight years old.
He enrolled in the University of Wisconsin, where he worked on the school newspaper, served as editor of the Daily Cardinal during his senior year and graduated with a degree in journalism.
Richard Lloyd Jones was politically ultra conservative and his views dominated the content of the Tribune.
Probably he delegated little or no authority to the younger man, who later would prove to be a dynamic and unapologetic progressive in his political and social views.
[7] With little fanfare, the Steven family moved to Washington, D.C. Bill had been named assistant director of the Press Division of the Office of Censorship.
[1] In effect, he was responsible for reviewing all articles about the war effort to determine whether the content would reveal too much information to the enemy.
In a moving tribute after Steven's death, he recalled that Bill had asked him to write a series about small towns in the Upper Midwest that were dying because bankers and powerful families were fighting against the intrusions of new industries.
In 1937, he transferred ownership of the paper to the newly established Houston Endowment Inc. Jones retained the title of publisher until his death in 1956.
One of his innovations at the Chronicle was the creation of a regular help column called "Watchem," where ordinary citizens could voice their complaints.
The Chicago Tribune later called this column a pioneer and prototype of the modern newspaper "Action Line.
"[12] Steven's progressive views soon created conflict with the Houston Endowment board, especially when he editorially supported the election of Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for president in 1964.
[14] In the summer of 1965, Jones decided to buy a local television station that was already owned by the Houston Endowment.
He resigned from the Houston Endowment board to avoid a conflict of interest, though he remained as publisher of the Chronicle.
A Time magazine article gave much of the credit for increasing circulations to changes made by Steven.