Kayode Crown was a former journalist from Nigeria working in a Jackson, Mississippi, pharmacy when editor Donna Ladd hired him into her newsroom soon after he applied.
Torsheta Jackson was a teacher with some freelance journalism to her credit whom Ladd lobbied for years to change careers and become an education reporter.
Whether their journeys were fast or slow, both are indicative of the out-of-the-box approach that the founders of the nonprofit news site the Mississippi Free Press have taken in assembling inclusive and representative newsrooms to cover stories across Mississippi.
Those founders, Ladd and Kimberly Griffin, first worked together at the for-profit Jackson Free Press, which Ladd co-founded. In 2020 they set out to start a new statewide nonprofit and took their partnership — and eventually many of the staff — from the Jackson Free Press to the new venture.
Their efforts have resulted in one of the most diverse news organizations in the state, with 18 staffers including six Black women, one Black man, three LGBTQ+ staffers, a Mexican American man and a contractor who is Choctaw, among others.
Part of the secret? Ladd doesn’t depend on traditional paths for hiring journalists.
“My real pipeline thing is to meet people, spot talent, and give them the chance,” said Ladd, the Free Press’s editor and CEO. “We wear inclusion on not just our sleeve, but on our forehead. … We’re not apologetic at all. We want people to represent different parts of the community and so this is what we do.”
Their work covering Mississippi with a newsroom representing the breadth of the population won them the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership, sponsored by Gannett/The USA Today Network, in the 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes contest. The 2025 contest opens in January.
“There are so many nonprofit newsrooms that have launched and do not take into account diversity and how to build trust in communities that have felt ignored,” wrote the judges. “The Mississippi Free Press built their newsroom with community and its diversity in mind. They are a beacon of hope in our industry and a true example to follow for other news organizations.”
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Ladd, who is white, grew up in rural Mississippi with illiterate parents. Griffin, who is Black, grew up middle class and was the third generation in her family to attend college.
“We bust up some stereotypes right there,” Ladd said.
Their nonprofit site isn’t focused on breaking news or traditional daily reporting. It aims to take deeper looks at the historic causes and systemic issues, including social justice, racism and inequality, that affect residents, as well as share solutions to those challenges across the state.
“You won’t see us reporting yesterday’s murder in the capital. But you may see us reporting on why Jackson has such a high crime rate, which is tied to white flight and disinvestment in this city,” said Jackson, the education reporter.
The Free Press engages with readers statewide through resident-led “solutions circles,” which Griffin, publisher and chief revenue officer, describes as bringing people together to talk about the challenges and solutions for issues affecting their community.
Mississippi Free Press editor and CEO Donna Ladd (center) participates in one of the news organizations “solutions circles,” which bring residents together to discuss challenges and solutions in their community. Photo by Imani Khayyam.
Additional systemic and statewide efforts include cataloging and comparing common concerns across the state’s 82 counties, and using mapping tools to create networks of sources, resources and solutions, which they hope will provide a support base to grow their journalism.
An important key to making all this work, they said, is having a staff that looks like the state, and in many cases, comes from the state, rather than outside it.
Both factors can help build audience trust, said one of Mississippi Free Press’ advisers and supporters.
“They are striking in bringing people together in all walks of life,” said Dr. Beverly Hogan, president emerita of Tougaloo College and a president in residence for the United Negro College Fund. When readers see “journalists who look like them, whether they are male, female, white or Black … it gives you a more trusting kind of sense that they are really practicing what they are advocating and presenting. That means a lot.”
It’s also a goal that eludes a lot of news organizations, which talk about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, but often don’t reach their stated goals.
“I go to conferences and people stand up and say, ‘I hired a Black person’ — this is my favorite thing — ‘I hired a Black person once, and they left,’ ” Griffin said. “And then I respond that, ‘You hired a blonde once, too, and they left, but it didn’t stop you from hiring blonde people.’ ”
Why is it different for the Free Press?
Torsheta Jackson, a former teacher, is an education reporter for the Mississippi Free Press. Photo courtesy Mississippi Free Press.
One reason is that Ladd “is very persistent,” Jackson said. “And when she gets an idea in her head and she believes it’s a great one, she is not going to let it go.
“Donna and I kept talking … about (my) coming on to the team permanently, and I kept saying, ‘I am a teacher,’ “ Jackson said. “Three years passed before she was finally able to convince me to take that leap.”
“I want a publication that looks like Mississippi,” Griffin said. “Mississippi is not just Black and white, although that is a big part of who we are. You know, we are rural, and people do not address the fact that our rural communities are underserved by media, and they’re misunderstood.”
That has also meant providing a career path in Mississippi for journalists from Mississippi.
“Who do you want talking about education equity (more) than a Black teacher from a rural county in Mississippi?” Griffin said, referring to Jackson.
Randall Pinkston, a veteran CBS News correspondent who now is associate director of the Center for New Media at Morgan State University’s journalism school, also advises the Free Press.
While he knows reporters from outside an area can learn and do a great job, he said, “I do believe those people who have grown up in the culture and who have witnessed … ‘this is why this thing happened’ — that brings a context and perspective that you just can’t get if you are not from there.”
Crown, who was an award-winner at both the Jackson and Mississippi Free Press, is one who wasn’t a native of the state. But he notes that “The DNA of those two organizations is constant training.”
Ladd holds regular workshops for the staff, and Crown was encouraged to attend the NICAR conference. Eventually, he left the Free Press to take a position on the local investigative team of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning AL.com.
“If I didn’t get in touch with somebody like Donna who had the kind of mind to believe that I can deliver … and just offer me a job, and I have done the job and won several awards. Now I have experience working as a journalist in America,” which led to his new opportunity, Crown said.
The newsroom is still working on its statewide promise to cover all parts of Mississippi, but its leaders believe their regular conversations with their audience, and a staff that represents readers, will get them there.
“We can change the state through journalism,” Ladd said. “Through journalism that tells the truth, that challenges existing media as needed, that challenges the stereotypes … I mean, if we can sit here in Mississippi and have this inclusive newsroom, what is anybody’s excuse?”
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