Award-winning Senior Reporter Kayode Crown was born in Nigeria, where he worked as a journalist at a state government-owned enterprise. He crisscrossed various editorial positions beginning in 2010 before moving to the United States with his family in 2019. He earned a post-graduate diploma in journalism from the International Institute of Journalism in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2011. Email story tips to Kayode Crown at
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Award-winning News Editor Ashton Pittman, a native of the South Mississippi Pine Belt, studied journalism and political science at the University of Southern Mississippi. Previously the state reporter at the Jackson Free Press, he drove national headlines and conversations with award-winning reporting about segregation academies. He has won numerous awards, including Outstanding New Journalist in the South, for his work covering immigration raids, abortion battles and even former Gov. Phil Bryant’s unusual work with “The Bad Boys of Brexit" at the Jackson Free Press. In 2021, as a Mississippi Free Press reporter, he was named the Diamond Journalist of the Year for seven southern U.S. states in the Society of Professional Journalists Diamond Awards. A trained photojournalist, Ashton lives in South Mississippi with his husband, William, and their two pit bulls, Dorothy and Dru. Follow on Twitter @ashtonpittman. Send tips to
[email protected].