Thank you from our team to you. We are excited that we exceeded our NewsMatch campaign goal of $200,000 and raised $202,336. We cannot explain how extraordinary this is, particularly during what feels like a recession to some. (I’m not convinced that’s happening, but you get the point.) Although we didn’t launch in March 2020 with deep pockets, we did start with $50,000 from a native Mississippian who believed Mississippians and our supporters around the country deserved a nonprofit newsroom focused on solutions and equity reporting. All of you know that we avoid flash-in-the-pan headlines and clickbait focused on the powerful and designed to enrage but with little other actual impact.
Lots of people think Mississippians aren’t that bright, that all white Mississippians are racists. They believe we should all flee from the state quickly to the sparkling north, where the streets are paved with gold and everyone is color-blind. While I have your attention, you know being color blind means you don’t see the totality of a person, right?
On most Election Days, someone will pop up on social media with one of those blue and red maps and demand that everyone who voted the “right” way leave our state immediately. At this point, an MFP editorial team member will respond that much of the South isn’t as stratified in their voting or beliefs as our typical (close) election outcomes would have you believe.
Instead, many southerners on both sides of the political aisles have been gerrymandered and redistricted into virtual voicelessness—they have plenty to offer and say, but few politicians or Mississippi media outlets are even seeking out their knowledge and views. That kind of nuance and context is missing from most mainstream media in the state and beyond. It’s why we do what we do.
Our people are smart and care deeply about the direction of Mississippi and the nation. When good people have good information, that does more than tell us we’re in trouble but how we got in trouble and what to do about it and prevent it from repeating. Those good people can hold the powerful accountable. Spoiler alert: Historic inequity is usually how we got here. This is why people are trying to throw the wool over your eyes with false debate about Critical Race Theory and now DEI and misguided attempts to ban accurate history books.
When you don’t know the truth, the truth will not set you free.
When Donna and I are speaking with other nonprofit news organizations from around the country, they’re mostly surprised that more than half of the funds we raise come from individual donors, with a good portion of those from Mississippians, including both expats and current residents. Preliminary numbers for 2023 show that your giving continues in the same vein.
It was critical that our first big supporter gave us that $50,000 to get us started, but it’s just as essential that you read our newsletters, chip in $10 when you can, let us keep texting you and share our stories with your circles. This growing community, including so many first-time journalism donors, is why we started the Mississippi Free Press. Still, it’s also why we have the resources to grow Mississippi’s most inclusive newsroom with a team that reflects not only Mississippi but the nation.
My co-workers are extraordinary. To a person, they are brilliant, decent, a joy to be around and wonderful humans. They occasionally get nasty notes about something they’ve written, which reinforces the need for their work. I think that is pretty cool because that’s the entire point. We should not be preaching to the choir and, more than once, we’ve seen those nasty note writers become eventual supporters.
So again, I say thank you for all you’ve done and all you’re doing.
Here’s to more truth-telling in 2024.
