Deep South Today is pleased to announce that it has received a $300,000 grant from theWalton Family Foundation (WFF) to expand education reporting at Mississippi Today.
“Education reporting has always been a pillar of our newsroom,” said Mary Margaret White, the CEO and executive director of Mississippi Today. “We will utilize this generous grant from the Walton Family Foundation to ensure parents, students and educators have access to nuanced and human-centered reporting on K-12 education in our state.
Through support from WFF, Mississippi Today will hire an education reporter and editor to work alongside its existing K-12 reporter and higher education reporter, establishing a four-person team dedicated to covering all aspects of the state’s education system. This team will focus on the challenges and solutions in Mississippi schools that can engage youth and strengthen communities.
The reporting on areas of educational pathways, funding and postsecondary opportunities will be produced in Mississippi Today’s signature style — in-depth, with attention to background and context. This will include a mix of daily news and longer-form pieces involving investigation and data analysis, with a special focus on schools and families in the Mississippi Delta.
“The education that Mississippi children receive determines, in no small part, the future and wellbeing of our state,” said Kate Royals, managing editor of Mississippi Today. “I am so grateful we now have the resources to offer comprehensive coverage of such a critical topic.”
This journalism will be anchored in community-centered reporting, and with a lens for racial justice and equity, it will provide in-depth reporting on the issues facing, and solutions for, Mississippi schools, students, parents, educators and policy makers. Accurate, trustworthy news and information helps Mississippi’s citizens and communities better understand and make good decisions about the challenges they face and keeps government and institutional powers accountable.
“Education is key to building healthy communities and a stronger economy, and the journalists at Mississippi Today play an essential role in providing accurate and critical information about all aspects of education in the state, from K-12 schools to community colleges, universities, and workforce training,” said Warwick Sabin, president and CEO of Deep South Today. “We are very grateful for the Walton Family Foundation’s generous support that will sustain and expand the scope and quality of that work.”
This critical expansion of education coverage made possible by WFF will meet the need for reliable and essential education news and information in Mississippi, building on the strong foundation already established by Mississippi Today’s education reporters. Through support from The Phil Hardin Foundation and Open Campus, Mississippi Today currently has one K-12 reporter and one higher education reporter, respectively. Completing this team with an editor and additional reporter catalyzes the newsroom’s ability to cover stories from all parts of the state, with an emphasis on the people and families most affected by the education system.
About Deep South Today and Mississippi Today
Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today and Verite News. Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now one of the largest newsrooms in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded, and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.
About The Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. Three generations of the descendants of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, and their spouses work together to lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and X.
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