Happy official sixth anniversary to Mississippi Today! I’ve had the joy of leading this organization through ups and downs over five of our six years. It hasn’t always been easy, but the heart behind our mission is what fuels us. I want to thank each of you, our readers, who have supported us by sharing our stories, following us on social media and donating to our newsroom. It is only by your support that the last six years have been possible.

As a final look back, I wanted to share some of our top coverage from last year. In 2021, we continued our coverage of the MDHS welfare scandal. Investigative reporter Anna Wolfe reported on the money that Brett Farve and others involved in the case still owed the state. We continue to follow this story and have an entire page dedicated to tracking those involved and if they are being held accountable.

We also had extensive coverage of the Jackson water crisis that left many in the Metro area without adequate access to water. Our reporter Alex Rozier followed the city’s water deficiencies, while our political reporters followed the lawsuit drawn against the city and our education reporter followed how the water crisis affected Jackson’s school system. The coverage is still being followed into this year.

Thank you for taking a journey back in time with us this past week as we celebrate the hard work of our reporters dedicated to making Mississippi a better place. We find encouragement in the fact that so many of you share the same passion for the state and take the initiative to support our mission in any way you can. Here’s to many more years serving the great people of Mississippi and beyond!

To our current members: Thank you, truly, for your generous support. Mississippi Today is for the people and powered by the people. Our work would not be possible without you and our stories would not have meaning without your willingness to share your experiences with our reporters.

To our readers who are not yet members: Thank you for joining us on this journey. If you’d like to help us celebrate and create more meaningful projects going forward, create a recurring donation today. We’re almost to our goal of welcoming 60 new members in celebration of our sixth anniversary.

Help us celebrate and become a member today!

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Mary Margaret joined the Mississippi Today team in 2017, one year after its launch, and was named CEO in 2020. She has presented the Mississippi Today story and the power of nonprofit news to audiences ranging from local civic groups to the American Journalism Project and the Knight Media Forum.

She is a 2021 graduate of the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University and a 2020 Fellow of the Online News Association’s Women’s Leadership Accelerator.

Mary Margaret holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in Southern Studies from the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, where she serves as an advisor. She is also an advisory board member for Press Forward Mississippi.