Photographer H.C. Porter speaks during a panel on Art in Mississippi during the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
W. Ralph Eubanks speaks, left, during a panel on the legacy of Eudora Welty during the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Ebony Lumumba is at the right. Polaris
Cartoonist Marshall Ramsey, right, listens to writer Sid Salter speak on a panel entitled “Things Like The Truth “ during the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
Festival goers browse on of the book sellers tents at the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
Panelists Greg Iles, left, Jerry Mitchell, center, and Stanley Nelson, listen to a question from the audience during the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
Craig Gill, right, listens to Dr. Charles Reagan Wilson during panel on the Mississippi Encyclopedia during the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
Pulizer Prize winning novelist Richard Ford speaks at the Third Annual Mississippi Book Festival on the grounds of the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris
Holly Lange, executive director of the Mississippi Book Festival speaks during the opening ceremony in the State Capitol in Jackson, MS August 19, 2017. Polaris

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.