Senior Reporter Kayode Crown came to Mississippi from Nigeria where he worked as a journalist at The Hope Newspapers, 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.

Kayode won several awards for his work in 2020 in his previous reporting job at the Jackson Free Press, including a 1st Place Society of Professional Journalists Diamond Award in Explanatory Reporting and 3rd place for Outstanding New Journalist in seven southern U.S. states. In the SPJ Green Eyeshade Awards, he took 2nd Place for Courts and the Law Reporting for his reporting on policing mental health and public safety.

The judges for the Outstanding New Journalist Award said this of Kayode: “The amount of detail Kayode Crown puts into his stories is impressive. That exemplifies a passion for reporting and writing that easily connects with readers. Plus, there’s always context provided about what impact a story has on the community. These important traits are evident now and will be well-used in the future.”

Kayode has been a John Jay College of Criminal Justice reporting fellow and received a National Press Association Statehouse Fellowship.

Kayode likes rock music and has fallen in love with the beautiful landscapes in Jackson.

Read Kayode’s Mississippi Free Press work here.
Follow him on Twitter at @kayodecrown.