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Mr. Braxton Bragg Underwood, named for the infamous Confederate general, is the owner of and sole writer for the Maycomb Tribune, and many in the community regard him as a rather harsh and bitter man. He rarely leaves his apartment above the newspaper office, lacks meaningful social connections, and seems to give little thought to truthfully reporting the local news. Instead, Mr. Underwood uses his public platform to either editorialize or share stories that the town gossips bring to him.
The fact that someone as single-minded as Mr. Underwood has the power to shape public perception speaks to the values of Maycomb as a whole. Rather than challenging Mr. Underwood to report the news truthfully, the residents who have access to his publications simply accept his biases as the status quo. For as cruel as Mr. Underwood can be, however, Lee reveals that he does possess a sense of humanity. This development emerges as the Robinson trial is set to begin, a detail which seems ironic given that he “despises” African Americans, a fact well-known among Maycomb's residents. After the mob leaves the jail in Chapter 15, Mr. Underwood calls down to Atticus from his apartment and reveals that he was prepared to protect him and the children with his rifle. His willingness to look out for Atticus, especially considering Atticus's role as Tom’s lawyer, may be surprising given the openly racist attitudes he has expressed in the past and continues to express during the trial. (In Chapter 18, Mr. Underwood snorts to see Scout sitting in the balcony with the Black men and women of Maycomb.) But Mr. Underwood takes an even bigger step toward the end of the novel when he publishes an editorial in the Maycomb Tribune criticizing the prison guards for killing Tom, arguing that the killing of Tom was a “senseless slaughter.” It's by way of Mr. Underwood's editorial that Scout understands Tom was sentenced not through due process of the law, but in the “secret courts of men's hearts.” Between the severely “bitter” tone of his editorial and his willingness to put his reputation on the line, Mr. Underwood appears to have strayed from his initial biases. This shift does not absolve him of past behaviors or remarks, but it emphasizes his complex nature.
