Mary Margaret White
CE0/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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.
Adam Ganucheau
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Adam, named Mississippi Today’s editor-in-chief April 2020, has covered politics and state government for Mississippi Today since February 2016. Adam oversees the newsroom and works with the editorial team to produce high-quality journalism in the public interest.
Michael Guidry
MANAGING EDITOR
Michael was named Mississippi Today’s managing editor in February 2024, following four years in the news division at Mississippi Public Broadcasting where he developed skills in audio storytelling as a producer, writer and editor.
Marshall Ramsey
EDITOR-AT-LARGE
Marshall, a nationally recognized editorial cartoonist, shares his cartoons and travels the state as Mississippi Today’s Editor-At-Large. Marshall can often be found in communities across Mississippi, promoting public conversations about the news and inspiring audiences to engage in civic life.
Richard Lake
Audience Engagement Specialist
Richard joined Mississippi Today in August of 2024 as the Audience Engagement Specialist. In this role, Richard works directly with journalists, editors and our readership to ensure Mississippi Today’s Pulitzer-prize-winning journalism reaches every corner of the state and beyond. Richard comes to Mississippi Today after over two years as WJTV Channel 12 News’ Senior Political Correspondent. A former MT intern, Richard previously worked on the audience team. Richard also completed an internship with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports, working as a production assistant. While at WJTV, Richard was named a finalist for TV Rookie of the Year at the 2023 Mississippi Association of Broadcasters Awards. Richard was also a part of WJTV’s award winning reporting on Mississippi’s 2023 gubernatorial election.
Mina Corpuz
JUSTICE REPORTER
Mina, a California native, covers the criminal justice system. Before joining Mississippi Today, she was a reporter for the Clarion Ledger and newspapers in Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and USA Today.
Rick Cleveland
SPORTS COLUMNIST
Rick, a native of Hattiesburg and resident of Jackson, has been Mississippi Today’s sports columnist since 2016. A graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a bachelor’s in journalism, Rick has worked for the Hattiesburg American, Monroe (La.) News Star World, Jackson Daily News and Clarion Ledger as a reporter, editor and columnist. He was executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. His work as a syndicated columnist and celebrated sports writer has appeared in numerous magazines, periodicals and newspapers. Rick has authored four books and has been recognized 13 times as Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year.
Simeon Gates
GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER
Simeon is a general assignment reporter at Mississippi Today. She previously served as a Mississippi Today intern. Simeon worked at Southern Miss Student Media and attended the University of Southern Mississippi. As a student journalist, she received several awards, including first place for the “Best Use of Video” in the college division of the Mississippi Press Association’s 2024 Better Newspaper Contest. Simeon is interested in political reporting and local government.
Michael Goldberg
POLITICAL REPORTER
Michael joined Mississippi Today after more than two years with The Associated Press. Goldberg is a California native and is an alumnus of Western Washington University and University of Southern California. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, ESPN, The Los Angeles Times and PBS.
Bobby Harrison
SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
Bobby, Mississippi Today’s senior capitol reporter, covers politics, government and the Mississippi State Legislature. He also writes a weekly analysis.
Vickie D. King
PHOTOJOURNALIST
Vickie has experience as a professional photographer spanning 35 years. She is the former photographer, Special Projects Officer IV, Staff Officer I, videographer and online content producer for the Mississippi Department of Corrections and a former photojournalist. She is also a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Spot News.
Molly Minta
HIGHER EDUCATION REPORTER
Molly covers higher education for Mississippi Today. She works in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit news organization focused on investigating higher education. Originally from Melbourne Beach, Florida, Molly reported on public housing and prosecutors in her home state and worked as a fact-checker at The Nation before joining Mississippi Today in 2021. Her story on Mississippi’s only class on critical race theory was a finalist for the Education Writers Association National Awards for Education Reporting in 2023 in the feature reporting category. Molly’s work at Mississippi Today has been honored by The Green Eyeshades and the Mississippi Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.
Jerry Mitchell
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant.
After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit that exposed injustices, investigated cold cases, gave voice to the voiceless and raiseds up the next generation of investigative reporters. Mitchell and MCIR have joined forces with Mississippi Today to continue shining a light through watchdog and investigative reporting.
Sophia Paffenroth
COMMUNITY HEALTH REPORTER
Sophia, a New York native, covers community health with a focus on women’s and family health care. In 2023, she graduated with a master’s in journalism from Northeastern University, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Boston Scope. Her multimedia work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association and the New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She has also worked for the global nonprofit, Girl Rising, and the documentary group, The Disability Justice Project.
Gwen Dilworth
COMMUNITY HEALTH REPORTER
Gwen covers community health for Mississippi Today. Originally from North Carolina, she previously reported for The Times-Independent and The Salt Lake Tribune in Moab, Utah, where she covered local government and Southeast Utah’s mining industry. Prior to her career in journalism, Gwen worked in non-profit criminal defense in New Orleans and attended the University of Virginia.
Geoff Pender
POLITICAL & GOVERNMENT EDITOR
Geoff serves as Politics and Government Editor, working closely with Mississippi Today leadership on editorial strategy and investigations. Pender joined the Mississippi Today team in 2020, bringing 30 years of political and government reporting experience to the newsroom.
Previously, Pender served as Politics and Investigative Editor at The Clarion Ledger, where he also penned a popular political column. While at The Clarion Ledger, Pender helped lead digital transformation for the legacy publication, while overseeing watchdog news teams and government reporting.
Kate Royals
COMMUNITY HEALTH EDITOR
Kate is a Jackson native and returned to Mississippi Today as the lead education reporter after serving in the same capacity from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was a reporter for The Clarion-Ledger covering education and state government. Kate became Mississippi Today’s first community health editor in January 2022.
Alex Rozier
DATA REPORTER
Alex, from New York City, is Mississippi Today’s data and environment reporter. His work has appeared in the Boston Globe, Open Secrets, and on NBC.com. In 2019, Alex was a grantee through the Pulitzer Center’s Connected Coastlines program, which supported his coverage around the impact of climate change on Mississippi fisheries.
Eric J. Shelton
COMMUNITY HEALTH PHOTOJOURNALIST
Eric, a native of Columbia, is a photojournalist focused on healthcare in Mississippi. Eric’s journalism career started with an internship at the Associated Press in Boston. He later worked for daily newspapers as a photojournalist in Central and East Texas. He also worked for the Hattiesburg American and the Clarion Ledger in Mississippi. Eric was a 2018 corps member in Report for America, and joined the team as our first photojournalist. He rejoined Mississippi Today as our community health photojournalist in January 2022.
Debbie Skipper
JUSTICE TEAM EDITOR
Debbie is a veteran journalist, who worked over 30 years at the Clarion Ledger, first as a reporter and then as an editor overseeing breaking news, business and investigative projects. She left the CL as news director in 2018 to become managing editor of the nonprofit Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and joined Mississippi Today in October 2022 to become its first justice team editor.
Taylor Vance
POLITICAL REPORTER
Taylor, a native of Grenada, covers state government and statewide elections. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and Holmes Community College. Before joining Mississippi Today, Taylor reported on state and local government for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, where he received an award for his coverage of the federal government’s lawsuit against the state’s mental health system.
Anna Wolfe
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER
Anna is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter who covers inequity and corruption in government safety net programs, nonprofit service providers and institutions affecting the marginalized. She began reporting for Mississippi Today in 2018, after she approached the editor with the idea of starting a poverty beat, the first of its kind in the state. Wolfe has received national recognition for her years-long coverage of Mississippi’s welfare program, in which she exposed new details about how officials funneled tens of millions of federal public assistance funds away from needy families and instead to their friends, families and the pet projects of famous athletes.
Interns & Fellows
Mukta Joshi
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING FELLOW
Mukta is an investigative reporting fellow at Mississippi Today through the 2024 Columbia Journalism School + INN Internship Program. Mukta graduated with honors from Columbia Journalism School in 2024 as a fellow at the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, where her master’s thesis explored the growing South Asian influence on American politics. She is also a professional photojournalist, and her work has been published in TIME, Al Jazeera, WDR, New York Focus and Autostraddle.
Steph Quinn
Roy Howard Fellow
Steph is a Roy Howard Fellow at Mississippi Today focusing on investigative journalism. Steph graduated in May 2024 with a master’s degree from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She reported on juvenile justice for Capital News Service and was chosen as a student leader on two projects at UMD’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, including a partnership with the Associated Press on police use of force. Quinn also reported on Minnesota’s fragmented system of oversight of animal rescue organizations as an intern at the Minnesota Star Tribune.
With a Ph.D. in history, Quinn brings to her reporting years of experience researching how Black migrant laborers and women shaped urban life in Namibia during apartheid. After earning her doctorate in 2019, she held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of the Free State in South Africa.