Local Reporting for Statewide Impact

A statewide initiative

Local news can help shape our state’s future.

Since decisions made in Jackson affect the lives of Mississippians in every corner of the state, we need stories from those communities to inform policy-making.

Press Forward Mississippi is supporting a collaborative editorial effort to produce locally sourced stories from around the state, within a coordinated topic and timeline. The goal is to demonstrate the importance and impact of local news, contribute to stronger public understanding, and support informed policymaking in Mississippi.

Press Forward Mississippi tapped respected publisher Tim Kalich, who recently retired from The Greenwood Commonwealth, to lead a pilot news collaborative reporting project. The Mississippi Press Association has been a key partner in this effort.

COLLABORATIVE 1: OCTOBER 2025

School Choice in Mississippi

For their first topic, the collaborative choose to focus on school choice, also called education freedom by proponents, anticipating that it would be a major issue in Mississippi’s 2026 legislative session.

The collaborative of more than 20 news outlets in Mississippi produced a comprehensive series of stories to explain how school choice might impact their communities, and how school choice has worked so far in other Southern states that have adopted the kinds of reforms the Mississippi Legislature is expected to consider. It marked the largest coordinated reporting effort among news outlets in state history.