We are proud to announce two journalists joining the Local Investigations Fellowship and the newly established Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center created in collaboration with The New York Times. 

The Local Investigations Fellowship, led by Dean Baquet, the former executive editor of The Times, gives journalists the opportunity to produce signature investigative work focused on the state or region they’re reporting from. Last year, Deep South Today announced that it would create a new regional investigative reporting center in collaboration with the fellowship, which is committing substantial resources in addition to several fellowship positions. 

The new fellows are from Mississippi and Louisiana. They are:

Mukta Joshi

Mukta Joshi is an investigative reporter for Mississippi Today. She has a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School and a law degree from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru. Before pursuing journalism, she worked in India as a lawyer and legal researcher. One of her investigations was selected by the Global Investigative Journalism Network as one of eight best investigations from India in 2023. Mukta will continue to examine law enforcement and the justice system in Mississippi.

Rosemary Westwood

Rosemary Westwood is a reporter based in New Orleans with a focus on health policy. She previously covered health with a focus on reproductive rights and vaccines for NPR, KFF Health News and the Louisiana public radio stations WWNO and WRKF. She is a recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award and has also won awards from the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Associated Church Press. Rosemary will report on public health in Louisiana.

Their reporting will be copublished by Deep South Today newsrooms and The Times and made available to local news organizations for copublication.

“The Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center represents a vital new chapter for regional accountability journalism,” Dean said. “We are proud to welcome Mukta and Rosemary as fellows and look forward to supporting them as they pursue the difficult, essential stories that define the mission of this new center.”

These are the first fellows joining the 2026-27 Local Investigations Fellowship cohort. Additional journalists joining the class and investigative reporting center will be announced soon. 

“Mukta and Rosemary have already proven themselves as smart, detail-oriented journalists who are determined to hold the powerful to account,” said Emily Wagster Pettus, editor in chief of Mississippi Today. “Their participation in the Times fellowship and as inaugural fellows for the Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center will provide an important service to readers.”

The Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center includes support from Big Local News, a program at Stanford University that empowers journalists with data, tools and collaborations. Big Local News will be working with fellows on obtaining and analyzing data for their projects and providing ongoing training on investigative data techniques.

This initiative was made possible through a grant from Arnold Ventures. Deep South Today and The Times view it as an opportunity to create a new sustainable, replicable model for building strong regional investigative teams that can produce high-impact local, state and regional stories in underserved communities.

Open positions for the Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center are posted on the Deep South Today website. Journalists interested in a fellowship based in Mississippi or Louisiana can visit this application form year round.