Mississippi Today joins four U.S. newsrooms in exploring changes in rural workforce development as part of an editorial collaboration from the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network (RNN).
As one of 75 newsrooms reporting on rural issues in 47 states, Mississippi Today is part of a national initiative to uncover the most critical needs in these communities. Collaborative reporting reaches more people to make meaningful change possible.
“We are delighted to have Mississippi Today join this reporting project to share how Mississippians can bridge gaps in the work-to-jobs pipeline for rural communities,” said Alana Rocha, Rural News Network editor. “This crucial reporting will be shared across the country to surface solutions for other communities fighting for a better future for rural workers.”
For the next six months, Mississippi Today will work with Cardinal News in Virginia, KOSU in Oklahoma, Shasta Scout in Northern California and The Texas Tribune in covering the issue for regional, statewide and national audiences. The journalists will explore how changing demographics, politics and economic needs are reshaping rural workforce development programs.
Mississippi Today’s higher education reporter Molly Minta will focus her reporting on one Mississippi Delta county, Issaquena, where less than 1% of adult residents have a bachelor’s degree, the lowest in Mississippi and the second lowest in the nation. Her research is showing that nearly a quarter of adults aged 25 or older in this sparsely populated county on the edge of the Mississippi River have attempted college but didn’t graduate. Her project will look at the barriers to higher education there but also focus on efforts underway to increase the county’s college-going rate.
“Working with this collaborative has enabled us to see how some of the same issues affecting Mississippi’s Issaquena County are at play in other parts of the country and to see how other communities are attempting to tackle the problem,” said Debbie Skipper, Mississippi Today’s Justice Team and Special Projects Editor. “We are also gaining insight and advice from the leadership at the Rural News Network as we move forward in the reporting and editing process.”
This series is made possible with support from Ascendium. Financial supporters have zero say in the editorial process.
The first round of the series publishes in early December, with follow-up stories set for early 2024.
Mississippi Today is a dynamic, digital nonprofit news organization that aims to engage, inform, and empower the people of Mississippi. Committed to delivering the highest caliber of journalism, we focus on educating Mississippians about the intersections of education, health, government, climate, and politics, and how these impact the daily lives of its residents.
Position Summary:
Mississippi Today is seeking an experienced Managing Editor to spearhead our commitment to engaged journalism while overseeing and enhancing our editorial strategy. The Managing Editor will lead our team of journalists, ensuring our content reflects diverse voices and state perspectives. Central to this role is the practice and promotion of engaged and solutions-oriented journalism, actively involving the community in our processes and ensuring that their voices are elevated in our work. This pivotal position will also shape the newsroom’s structure, focusing on managing teams of editors and bolstering newsroom workflows.
Primary responsibilities of the Managing Editor at Mississippi Today include:
Editorial and Newsroom Management:
In conjunction with the Editor-in-Chief, develop and manage editorial budgets that support newsroom operations and expansion.
Supervise a team of 2-3 editors, ensuring communication and alignment across the newsroom.
Lead editorial meetings, setting the direction for content and ensuring alignment with Mississippi Today’s mission.
Coordinate content strategies with platform managers and advocate for a diverse range of views within our reporting.
Manage teams of editors, providing guidance, advice, and management support.
Implement a distribution mindset among leadership and staff, helping editors and reporters think strategically about possible publishing partners on the local and national level.
Represent Mississippi Today in public speaking engagements, panels, and community events.
Oversee the hiring process for newsroom roles, from crafting job descriptions to conducting interviews, in collaboration with team editors and human resources.
Identify and coordinate in-house newsroom trainings for staff.
Act as point person for summer interns.
Plan evergreen stories for holidays.
Submit journalists’ stories for nomination to annual awards.
Engaged Journalism and Content Strategy:
Serve as the point person to the Audience Team for newsletters, resources, guides, data projects and other innovations to ensure production and alignment with editorial goals and standards.
Drive daily digital engagement, fostering a habit of reliance and trust with our readers and listeners.
Champion an “audience-first” approach, collaborating closely with the community and integrating their voices into our content.
Have a familiarity with modern engagement tools and methodologies.
Maintain a deep commitment to public service journalism.
Operational Duties:
Obtain annual press passes for reporters and manage external requests for publication.
Act as a bridge between newsroom staff and upper management, ensuring clear communication and understanding of policies.
Embrace and implement emerging tools of engaged journalism to further the mission of Mississippi Today.
Handle newsroom travel arrangements, from booking flights to accommodations.
Manage all newsroom subscriptions, ensuring accessibility and regular updates.
Qualifications:
2 to 5 years of management experience
Strong communication skills, both written and verbal
Ability to manage multiple projects at once while meeting all deadlines
Excellent organizational and leadership skills
Ability to plan and coordinate people and operations
Digital publishing experience
Working knowledge of online platforms like WordPress and SEO concepts
Experience in copywriting and editing
Attention to detail
How to Apply:
We’re committed to building an inclusive newsroom that represents the people and communities we serve. We especially encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply for this position, including women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people and people who are differently abled.
Welcome to The Homestretch, a daily blog featuring the most comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race. This page, curated by the Mississippi Today politics team, will feature the biggest storylines of the 2023 governor’s race at 7 a.m. every day between now and the Nov. 7 election.
It might not surprise Mississippians that The Cook Political Report, regarded as one of the nation’s preeminent elections experts, shifted their 2023 Mississippi governor’s race forecast on Monday in Democrat Brandon Presley’s direction.
Presley, who is challenging Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in November, has mounted a strong, high-dollar campaign and is clearly picking up steam in a race against an incumbent who has struggled with likability problems. Polls this year have consistently shown Presley within striking distance and Reeves struggling to get 50% support.
But what may surprise many Mississippians is what at least two anonymous Republican Party operatives based in the state told Cook Political Report editor Jessica Taylor. Here’s what they said:
“I think Brandon has run a good race, while Reeves is soft with some Republicans, particularly moderates. [Presley has] done everything you can do, he’s been very disciplined and he’s done a very good job staying on message. It’s like he wakes up in the middle of the night and says ‘grocery tax cut, expand Medicare and corruption.’”
“My concern is that Brandon Presley has had a lot of cash come his way and he’s spent aggressively on TV. To me the risk for Tate is his side tends to think he’s fine, but Tate’s likability is an issue, and I think that can affect turnout. I think the combination of that and Presley having more money makes an eight-point race closer potentially.”
“My message to Republicans would be, Brandon Presley’s got a big wad of cash and there’s great risk of us having low turnout. If [Presley] spends his cash wisely on turning out the Democratic vote, this thing could be really really close.”
“If Republican turnout is softer than it would be otherwise,” there’s cause for concern, one Mississippi Republican said. “But I know if Bennie is engaged,” Democrats might be able to “juice [Black turnout] somewhat.”
For weeks, as Mississippi Today has reported, GOP operatives in Mississippi have been trying to sound the alarm. But if those quotes published Monday don’t stir the Reeves campaign into a frenzy, it might be time for the governor to find some new staffers.
The winds have clearly been shifting in recent weeks. A new poll released yesterday by the Democratic Governors Association has the race within just one point. Presley is still riding news that he out-raised Reeves over the past three months — a shock to many who regard Reeves as the state’s most successful fundraiser perhaps ever.
And now The Cook Political Report moved the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race on Monday from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican” — a shift in Presley’s direction. It’s just one notch from “Toss Up.”
“Republican Gov. Tate Reeves still has the edge, according to Republicans and Democrats nationally and locally we’ve talked to, but it’s morphed into a competitive fight with added intrigue heading into Election Day thanks to an unusually strong challenger in Brandon Presley,” Taylor, the Cook editor, wrote. “There is also an increasing scenario that neither candidate will top 50% on Nov. 7, which means the contest could head to a runoff three weeks later.
“ … Ultimately, this race has clearly become competitive, from the money that Presley has to the way Republicans are responding and beginning to worry.”
Four years ago, when Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood mounted a tough challenge of Reeves for the Governor’s Mansion, Cook moved its rating from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican” on Sept. 27. Reeves defeated Hood 52% to 47%.
A key difference in this year’s race than four years ago, Taylor writes, is the possibility of a runoff election. A third 2023 gubernatorial candidate, independent Gwendolyn Gray, dropped out of the race in early October and endorsed Presley, but her announced exit came too late to be removed from the ballot. She could earn enough votes to keep Reeves or Presley from reaching 50%, which would push those two candidates to a Nov. 28 runoff election.
The alarms inside the Mississippi GOP are blaring, and Democrats feel like they have momentum. We said it yesterday and we’ll say it again today: Just 14 days from Election Day, there’s plenty of drama.
1) Both candidates are absolutely tearing up Mississippi’s less-than-stellar roads. Yesterday, Reeves made stops in Columbus, Macon and Noxubee County. Presley made stops in West Point, Meridian and Laurel.
2) What on earth happened at U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s home in Brookhaven on Sunday? Mississippi Today’s Bobby Harrison reported Monday that U.S. Secret Service is investigating after someone fired shots near her home. Gun rights and gun violence hasn’t been mentioned on the 2023 trail, but there’s two weeks left. Might the incident force the candidates into discussing a new issue?
3) Both Reeves and Presley will speak to the state’s top business leaders at the annual Hobnob lunch hosted by the Mississippi Economic Council on Oct. 26. It’s one of few venues where both candidates speak to the same room. They won’t be on stage together, but there could still be some fireworks.
The U.S. Secret Service is expected to be in Lincoln County today to investigate after gunshots were fired Sunday by an unknown person near the home of U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.
No one was injured in the incident, and federal, state and local law enforcement are investigating, according to a statement from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
On social media, Hyde Smith said Monday, “An incident involving a shooting occurred near the home of Sen. Hyde-Smith early Sunday afternoon. The senator and her family were not harmed. Sen. Hyde-Smith is grateful for the concern shown by many and the good work of federal, state and local law enforcement.”
The shots were fired from a 9 mm weapon, according to a law enforcement source, and were fired in the general direction of the vehicle of a family member of Hyde-Smith’s as the person drove up the driveway toward the house near Brookhaven in south Mississippi.
The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Sunday. After the shooting, a witness saw a vehicle speeding away.
Hyde-Smith was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2018 to fill a vacancy. She won a special election later that year and won an election for a full six-year term in 2020.
Update 10-23-23: This story to add comments from Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
Welcome to The Homestretch, a daily blog featuring the most comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race. This page, curated by the Mississippi Today politics team, will feature the biggest storylines of the 2023 governor’s race at 7 a.m. every day between now and the Nov. 7 election.
If you’ve wondered why the Democratic Governors Association has pumped a historic amount of money into Brandon Presley’s 2023 campaign, you might get your answer later today.
The Washington-based organization that works to get Democratic governors elected will publicly release a poll today that shows Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves leading Presley by just one point, according to a memo shared with Mississippi Today.
The poll shows Reeves leading Presley 46% to 45%, with nearly 10% still undecided 15 days from the election. The poll also shows that among those undecided voters, 68% have an unfavorable opinion of Reeves, while just 2% view him favorably.
If accurate, the poll also shows both candidates well below the 50%-plus-one threshold needed to avoid a runoff. A third candidate, independent Gwendolyn Gray, dropped out of the race in early October and endorsed Presley, but her announced exit came too late to be removed from the ballot. She could earn enough votes to keep Reeves or Presley from reaching 50%, which would push those two candidates to a Nov. 28 runoff election.
The Democratic Governors Association has pumped at least $3.75 million into Presley’s campaign this year, which is an unprecedented Mississippi investment from a single group affiliated with the national Democratic Party. That sum helped Presley out-raise Reeves over the past three months — a feat that very few political observers expected.
To add some context to this year’s DGA investment, the same group gave Democratic nominee Jim Hood just $2.4 million in his race against Reeves four years ago. And this year in neighboring Louisiana, one of two other states with a 2023 governor’s election, the DGA invested about $300,000 total.
A word of warning about this poll and any others you’ll see between now and November: ‘tis the season for skewed polling leaks. Given their investment in one candidate in the race, the uber-politically affiliated DGA could very well have reason to release numbers that don’t tell a complete picture.
But here’s what we do know: The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling, a reputable North Carolina-based firm that has an A-minus rating from the industry standard FiveThirtyEight pollster rating service. This pollster, according to the memo shared with Mississippi Today, surveyed 601 Mississippi voters via a mix of text message and phone calls from October 19-20, and the margin of error is 4%.
There are reasons to buy this latest poll’s numbers. This new poll, like others before it, shows Reeves underwater on favorability. Of the new poll’s total respondents, according to the memo, 51% have an unfavorable opinion of Reeves and just 33% view him favorably.
Presley, on the other hand, has a marginal favorable rating among all the poll’s respondents (36% favorable to 31% unfavorable), but the poll memo shows the Democratic nominee still has a major name ID problem — something that also mirrors other public polling released earlier this year. In all, 32% of the poll’s respondents are unsure of their opinion of Presley.
The poll that shows neither candidate particularly close to the 50% mark also tracks with buzz among Republican and Democratic politicos over the past week or two. Political operatives on both sides in Mississippi continue to openly speculate about the runoff possibility. And both campaigns, according to several sources, are said to be preparing for the possibility of a three-week November sprint to the runoff election.
Accurate or not, this new DGA poll will rattle the state’s political ground and attract even more national attention to the race. Just 15 days out, there’s plenty of drama.
1) How low, exactly, is Republican enthusiasm? The concern is there among many politicos, but can Reeves leverage his many millions on ginning up the GOP base?
2) What will enthusiasm look like on the Democratic side? Presley is clearly targeting Black voters — the base of the Democratic Party. In the last three weekends, he’s gone to three different HBCU tailgates (Alcorn State two weeks ago, Jackson State last weekend, and Mississippi Valley State this weekend).
3) Can Presley win broader support in northeast Mississippi than Jim Hood did in 2019? It’s a region of the state that Trump won definitively and Reeves won handily four years ago. The Democratic nominee campaigned Sunday in northeast Mississippi.
In this edition of Mississippi Stories, Mississippi Today Editor-at-Large Marshall Ramsey sits down with the talented David Rae Morris.
Morris is a photographer, documentarian, father and the son of writer Willie Morris. He talks about his career, talent and what it is like growing up with a famous father. A master storyteller, Morris gives a thoughtful interview.
Welcome to The Homestretch, a daily blog featuring the most comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race. This page, curated by the Mississippi Today politics team, will feature the biggest storylines of the 2023 governor’s race at 7 a.m. every day between now and the Nov. 7 election.
Just five nights before the 2019 governor’s election, about 10,000 Republicans packed into the BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo to hear a rambunctious President Donald Trump plead with Mississippians to vote for Tate Reeves.
It was borderline baffling that an immensely popular Republican president had to fly down to a strong Republican state in the eleventh hour and campaign for a well-known Republican candidate. But Reeves was struggling to reach the 50% mark in polling against longtime Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood, and Democrats smelled blood in the water.
“Wait a minute, how is this guy … I can’t believe this is a competitive race,” Trump acknowledged from the podium that night. “I’m talking to Mississippi, I can’t believe it. I don’t think (Hood) is going to be the right guy. I think the right guy is Tate Reeves. He will be a great governor.”
More than a few prognosticators still believe that rowdy, high-energy Trump rally won Reeves the 2019 race. Advisers close to Hood said they had internal polls going into the last two weeks of the election that actually had the Democrat leading Reeves. But on Election Day five days after Trump’s Tupelo visit, Reeves won with 51.9% of the vote.
Four years later, much is the same. Reeves is again favored at the top of the ticket for governor. But yet again, he’s struggling to reach the 50% mark in polling against another tough Democratic challenger, this time longtime Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley.
But not all is the same this year. Trump, of course, is not the president. Instead of jetting off to political rallies to boost Republican allies across the country, the former president is tied up in numerous legal proceedings at both the state and federal levels. Late this week, two of his closest allies accepted plea deals and appeared to turn on him in those deliberations. And a judge slapped him with a $5,000 fine on Friday for violating a gag order in his New York fraud case.
Trump, who clearly has other things on his mind than Reeves’ chances in November, has not weighed in yet on the 2023 Mississippi governor’s race, and it’s not clear if he will. It’s also not clear if it would mean nearly as much to Mississippi voters if he did.
A Mississippi Today/Siena College poll conducted in September showed an even favorable/unfavorable split among Mississippi voters on Trump — a much more negative overall view of the former president than in previous years’ polling.
With Republican operatives buzzing about GOP enthusiasm and turnout concerns, Reeves likability concerns, and a Democratic campaign that is making some strides, is another Trump visit on the horizon?
And if not, is there another silver bullet Reeves can load into his chamber?
1) Presley announced a statewide bus tour to close out his 2023 campaign. The campaign said the tour will make 55 stops across the state in the final weeks of the election.
2) Reeves spent his Friday in southwest Mississippi, visiting McComb, Liberty and Woodville. Interestingly, Amite and Wilkinson counties — home to about 21,000 people between the two — got visits from both Reeves and Presley this week. Presley visited the counties Thursday to officially fulfill a promise to visit all 82 counties this year.
3) It’s linked in the headlines above, but Mississippi Today’s Geoff Pender settled any questions or debate today about how many gubernatorial debates there will be. Pender reports: “It appears (Nov. 1) will be the only gubernatorial debate, not the first. It also would appear Reeves agreed to the single debate just days before the election to defang Presley’s claim — and campaign fodder — that he was dodging and ‘hiding’ from the voting public, not because of Reeves’ strong desire to debate.”
Mississippians in counties with Uber services can request free rides to their county health department appointments starting next month.
As the state’s health care crisis persists and Mississippians may increasingly rely on county health departments for care, the new program is aimed at making transportation more accessible for rural Mississippians, and in turn, decreasing “no shows” at health department appointments.
The one-year emergency contract, which Mississippi Today obtained through a public records request, says the Mississippi State Health Department will pay Uber Health up to $1 million for non-emergency services transporting patients to their health department appointments, to the pharmacy if needed and then returning them home. Though the contract is retroactively effective to September, rides will start being offered in November.
The rider will not be charged, and the health department will schedule transportation. It’s not clear exactly how those rides will be scheduled, and Mississippi Department of Health officials couldn’t provide details by press time and did not make anyone available for an interview about the initiative.
Agency officials also said the funds were from a federal grant but did not specify which one.
Uber’s responsibilities include assessing its coverage area within Mississippi, collaborating with the health department’s Office of Health Equity to spread awareness of the initiative and helping create a marketing plan to support driver availability, according to the contract.
“We now officially have a contract in place to provide transportation to and from the county health departments for those who lack transportation resources,” State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said at the October State Board of Health meeting. “That is a major issue, it’s a major social determinant of health that impacts people getting anywhere they need to go.”
Transportation issues plague rural Mississippi — it’s a major barrier to accessing health care for many. According to one survey, more than 1 in 5 people without transportation missed or skipped a medical appointment in 2022, and people of color and people with low incomes were more affected.
Mississippi county health departments currently experience a 50% no-show rate, according to Edney.
“It’s fairly routine that at the last minute they just can’t get to us,” he said.
However, it’s not yet clear how effective the program will be.
Though it’s meant to ease transportation issues in rural parts of the state, it’s only available in counties with Uber services, which some rural areas don’t have. Also, some studies show that rideshare availability doesn’t have a significant impact on missed health care appointments.
“With Mississippi being a rural state, this initiative will also allow the opportunity for community and economic development by creating jobs,” said Victor D. Sutton, the State Health Departments chief of community health and clinical services, in an email to Mississippi Today.
Edney told Warren County supervisors in the spring that he hopes the program will increase jobs and Uber availability in parts of the state that don’t yet have it.
Uber Health is already being used by more than 3,000 health care customers, according to a statement from January 2022.
Edney said at the October board meeting that the state’s contract with Uber is worded in a way that would allow other states to use it as a template. Health department officials say Mississippi is the first state agency to enter into a contract with the company, to their knowledge.
Uber launched the platform in 2018 to allow health care workers to book rides for patients to and from medical appointments. Since then, it’s expanded to include other services, including prescription delivery.
In recent years, rideshare services have taken interest in expanding to the health care market. Lyft was the first rideshare company to create a non-emergency medical transport program in 2016.
Despite vowing back in September that he and challenger Brandon Presley would have gubernatorial “debates” — plural — it appears incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves has agreed to participate in only one. It will take place on Nov. 1, just before the Nov. 7 election.
“I am letting the campaign team work on that,” Reeves said at a Sept. 21 press conference. “But I am sure we are going to have debates. We have always had debates.” He said he relished the chance to debate Presley and set the record straight with voters and “dispelling lies.”
In his first run for governor in 2019, Reeves debated his Democratic opponent Jim Hood twice.
In early October, when Reeves announced he had accepted a WAPT TV invite for a televised debate against Presley on Nov. 1, Reeves referred to it as “the first gubernatorial debate.” But it appears it will be the only gubernatorial debate, not the first. It also would appear Reeves agreed to the single debate just days before the election to defang Presley’s claim — and campaign fodder — that he was dodging and “hiding” from the voting public, not because of Reeves’ strong desire to debate.
The Reeves campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about debates on Friday.
Presley had accepted five invitations by various media and organizations for gubernatorial debates during October. He had vowed to debate Reeves anywhere, any time.
Presley this month has attended the agreed-to events that were still held sans Reeves, even bringing an empty chair and taping a photo of Reeves up in mock debate.
On Thursday, Presley’s campaign declared “Empty Chair October,” as Presley attended what had been pitched as a gubernatorial debate in Natchez.
“It’s been 27 days since Mississippians started (absentee) voting and Brandon continues to debate while Tate Reeves hides,” the Presley campaign said in a statement.
Presley said: “No matter how hard Tate Reeves works to hide, I will be out there, answering questions and talking to Mississippians who are ready for a new day in Mississippi come November.”
The Nov. 1 debate will not only be the only debate for this gubernatorial race, but the only one for a statewide office this cycle. Several challengers have accused Mississippi incumbents of debate dodging.
The “Commitment 2023: Mississippi Gubernatorial Debate” will be a partnership between WAPT TV in the Metro Jackson market and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. The hour-long debate will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on Nov. 1 from WAPT’s studio by the outlet and also will be broadcast live on MPB’s radio and television stations statewide and on the MPB app.
Voters are asked to submit questions for the candidates via email to info@mpbonline.org.
