Mississippi Today is pleased to announce Kayleigh Skinner as managing editor.

Skinner joined the Mississippi Today staff in January 2017 as an education reporter and has advanced to a senior staff member in her three years with the company. Skinner most recently served as deputy managing editor before assuming the role of managing editor.

“As a reporter, Kayleigh helped shape our coverage and hold many of the most powerful Mississippians accountable,” said Adam Ganucheau, Mississippi Today’s Editor-in-Chief. “Now as an editor, she’s doubled down and clearly proven just how important her voice and her leadership is in our newsroom. I couldn’t be prouder to work with her as we seek to inform and engage Mississippians and move this state forward.”

Skinner, a native of Canada, earned her bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Mississippi and has covered education in the South for six years. At Mississippi Today, she has focused on education and politics and how they intersect to impact the lives of people in Mississippi.

“With newsrooms shrinking across the state, I take very seriously our responsibility to keep Mississippians informed and hold our elected officials accountable,” Skinner said. “It’s not lost on me how important it is to have a diverse set of voices and opinions in the newsroom, and I am thrilled to step into this new leadership position at Mississippi Today and play an even larger role in shaping and directing coverage. Most of all, I hope to be an example for people who look like me that it’s possible to grow and move up in this industry.”

Skinner will work alongside Ganucheau to manage the newsroom’s daily and enterprise reporting, and craft broader editorial strategy. She is a member of Mississippi Today’s six-person management team where she plays a key role in organizational development and long-term vision for newsroom growth. 

“Kayleigh has been critical in steering our team through one of the most historic news cycles in state history, elevating our brand and readership to the greatest heights we’ve since our launch in 2016,” said Mary Margaret White, Mississippi Today CEO and Executive Director. “Kayleigh is a natural leader and has proven herself both in the newsroom, and in the boardroom. She has just the right mix of editorial chops and emotional intelligence, making her a rising star in the journalism field.”

Before joining Mississippi Today, she worked as a staff reporter at The Commercial Appeal and Chalkbeat, both in Memphis, and The Hechinger Report in Jackson. She was a member of the 2018 class of the ProPublica and Ida B. Wells Society Data Institute and was a member of the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award-winning team.

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