MFP Voices
SWAC, a Gulfport Tragedy and Voting Impact
Can y’all believe it’s the middle of October? Here in Mississippi, the temps aren’t exactly cool, but one is tempted to wear a sweater.
October 17, 2022
MFP Contributor
Can y’all believe it’s the middle of October? Here in Mississippi, the temps aren’t exactly cool, but one is tempted to wear a sweater.
“First, not one person on our team is fixated on being first. Getting it right is our goal,” Kimberly Griffin writes. “We aren’t sitting around decrying other journalists covering the story. That’s not helpful. It’s harmful because Mississippians deserve as much good information they can get because, Lord knows, power brokers are hiding it from us.”
“Our team covered the deep causes of the first round of the Jackson water crisis, and are covering this one, like both professional journalists and Mississippians who love their home state and its capital city.”
During these violence-prevention circles—which are virtual for now, though we hope we can have face-to-face conversations soon—we sit down with Mississippians from all walks of life and all corners of the state who then become part of a larger network seeking solutions together.
MFP Co-founder and Publisher Kimberly Griffin reflects on takeaways from a national journalism conference in Chicago, highlighting the continual growth of diversity in media. “‘Diversity’ is an overused word, yet I can’t think of any better word to describe the rooms filled with more Black and Brown folks, more young people, and more people from the LGBTQ+ community,” she writes.
The MFP acquisition includes the entirety of the Jackson Free Press’ published journalism and work product, the Jackson Free Press name and mailing lists, access to social media accounts, and office furniture and computer equipment. Jackson Free Press Inc.
“I’m announcing today that the Mississippi Journalism and Education Group, the 501(c)(3) that has operated the Mississippi Free Press officially since November 2021—before that the Community Foundation for Mississippi was our fiscal sponsor, and we maintain a fund there—has acquired the journalism assets, archives and intellectual property of the Jackson Free Press.”
“It’s one of the most fabulous times of the year! MFP’s spring fundraising campaign launched this past weekend with the theme, ‘Solutions for Mississippi.’ I can’t stress this enough,” Kimberly Griffin writes. “No gift is too small. Also, no gift is too big, so don’t let that stop you. Please give what you can to kick off this critical campaign.”
“So many people tell us that we represent the kind of excellence and honesty they didn’t quite think is possible in Mississippi,” Kimberly Griffin writes. “Myth-making and half-truths serve the powerful and encourage the powerless to lobby against themselves or just plain give up. I’m asking you not to give up on Mississippi.”
Mississippi Journalism and Education Group is a a 501(c)(3) nonprofit media organization (EIN 85-1403937) for the state, devoted to going beyond partisanship and publishing solutions journalism for the Magnolia State and all of its people.
125 S. Congress Street #1324
Jackson, MS 39201
info@mississippifreepress.org
tips@mississippifreepress.org
events@mississippifreepress.org
601-362-6121
The Mississippi Free Press is a project of the Mississippi Journalism and Education Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit journalism organization (EIN 85-1403937).