Mississippi

Jaylin R. Smith

Making funny videos and engaging audiences for prospects were skills Jaylin Smith learned from her graduate experience at the University of Mississippi in Journalism and New Media. While receiving her Master’s degree, the scholar worked as a graduate assistant for the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. There, Smith started her career as a multimedia journalist and researcher, presenting her work at conferences for the Broadcast Education Association and the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Her love for diversity and passion for representation and visibility of Black culture allowed her to be chosen as a 2024 TEDx Speaker, giving a talk about the importance of respecting Black women’s hair. Smith’s strong foundation for journalistic excellence and community involvement began at her beloved HBCU, Mississippi Valley State University. Leading up to her role as the Delta reporter at the Mississippi Free Press, Smith worked as a car saleswoman at Cannon Chevrolet in her hometown of Greenwood, Miss.

Katherine Lin

Before joining Mississippi Today, Katherine Lin graduated with her master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School reporting on business, housing and economics. She attended UC Davis where she worked at the student paper, The California Aggie. After graduating with a degree in history, she spent four years working in the biotech industry. She then returned to journalism through an internship at The Palo Alto Weekly on their editorial and audience engagement desks. Five generations of her family have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mississippi Today

Mississippi Today aims to be the authoritative voice on politics and policy in Mississippi, producing robust coverage of elected officials, government offices and legislative action. Our team produces a mix of daily and enterprise reporting, with award-winning investigations on justice, race and equity. Education coverage is essential to our newsroom and includes K-12, as well as a higher education beat. We continue to expand coverage on issues facing women and girls, our many neighbors living in poverty and the ongoing environmental challenges in our region.

Mississippi Free Press

The mission of the Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit statewide newsroom, is to publish deep public-interest reporting into causes of and solutions to the social, political, and systemic challenges facing all Mississippians and their communities. We interrogate and report the systems that cause inequities on the road to lasting solutions through a mixture of narrative storytelling, data reporting, historic context and community dialogue through solution circles in under-reported communities to discover report causes and roots of inequities, followed by solutions journalism.

The Greenwood Commonwealth

The Greenwood Commonwealth was founded in 1896 by James K. Vardaman, who later became the governor of Mississippi running as a white supremacist. Although the newspaper became more moderate under subsequent ownership, it wasn't until 1973, when it was purchased by John O. Emmerich Jr., that it became the community daily newspaper it is today. The Commonwealth continues the standards Emmerich set by covering the entire community in a fair, comprehensive and aggressive manner.

Illan Ireland

Illan Ireland covers environmental threats and challenges facing Mississippi communities at the Mississippi Free Press. Previously, he completed a fellowship at The Futuro Media Group in New York City, taking on projects related to public health, climate change and housing insecurity. Working with Futuro’s investigative unit, he helped uncover significant disparities in mortgage outcomes between white and Latino homebuyers in New Jersey. Ireland holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School, where he reported on the escalating drug overdose crisis in New York City and the near collapse of the local shelter system. He’s a native Spanish speaker, a proud Mexican American and a lover of movies, soccer and unreasonably spicy foods.

Mississippi Free Press

The mission of the Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit statewide newsroom, is to publish deep public-interest reporting into causes of and solutions to the social, political, and systemic challenges facing all Mississippians and their communities. We interrogate and report the systems that cause inequities on the road to lasting solutions through a mixture of narrative storytelling, data reporting, historic context and community dialogue through solution circles in under-reported communities to discover report causes and roots of inequities, followed by solutions journalism.

Torsheta Jackson

Torsheta Jackson is the Education Equity Solutions reporter for the Mississippi Free Press in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to joining the newsroom full time, Jackson spent 19 years as an educator and coach and 12 years as a freelance journalist. She has bylines in YES! magazine, Mississippi Free Press, Mississippi Scoreboard, Jackson Advocate, Jackson Free Press, Eater and Bash Brothers Media. Her work as part of the newsroom's Black Women and COVID project covered education history, equity and access in Noxubee County and garnered national recognition. Jackson earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from The University of Southern Mississippi, graduating top of her Broadcast Journalism cohort. She also holds master’s degrees in curriculum and instruction from the University of Mississippi and in human lactation from Union Institute and University. She lives in Richland, Mississippi with her husband Victor and the two youngest of their four children. She enjoys traveling, making memories with her family, reading and coaching youth sports.

Mississippi Free Press

The mission of the Mississippi Free Press, a nonprofit statewide newsroom, is to publish deep public-interest reporting into causes of and solutions to the social, political, and systemic challenges facing all Mississippians and their communities. We interrogate and report the systems that cause inequities on the road to lasting solutions through a mixture of narrative storytelling, data reporting, historic context and community dialogue through solution circles in under-reported communities to discover report causes and roots of inequities, followed by solutions journalism.

Grant McLaughlin

Grant McLaughlin is an economic development/ workforce reporter for the Commercial Dispatch in Columbus, Mississippi. As an undergraduate at The University of Mississippi’s School of Journalism and New Media l, McLaughlin worked for The Daily Mississippian, Rebel Radio, and started his own literary arts/ news website and magazine, The Underground Poet. He also participated in the Journalism School’s in-depth reporting class, writing about Fannie Lou Hamer and her Freedom Farm Cooperative. McLaughlin has also been a photography intern for Invitation magazine, where he worked local events in Oxford, Mississippi. He has a passion for writing poetry and creative nonfiction and has been published in Quasar Arts Magazine and the Landshark Review.