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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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Alan Lange, the owner of the big-ass gun site (“Warning: I’m Packin’ But I Ain’t Movin’”) that posts selective links to scary crime stories for reasons that few people seem to understand, has announced on his site that he is helping The Clarion-Ledger find stories about crime (as if they don’t know how to do that themselves!). He writes: “One of the consistent messages is that they [the C-L] are always looking for story ideas particularly related to the human/financial aspects of crime. I told them I would put the word out. Feel free to funnel that through me or talk to any of the news editors at the CL.”

http://www.jacksoncrime.org/crimeblog/archives/000276.html

Is it just me, but does this sound like a bizarre request? Cool, if they’re trying to more contextual coverage of crime (it’s about damned time). But can’t they find those angles themselves? Go talk to crime victims, look at the bigger picture, do unbiased research. Just plain weird.

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.