A former Greenwoodian is the first to serve as executive director of Mississippi Today, a nonpartisan and nonprofit digital news outlet in Jackson.
Mary Margaret Miller White, 36, has worked for the organization since August 2017. She recently was named to her new position, and Ryan “R.L.” Nave was made editor in chief.
“I came on originally at Mississippi Today as the foundation’s marketing and development director, which was a great role and one that I really enjoyed. It kind of put into play a lot of experience I had in previous positions with state government, but being named executive director has just been an incredible honor,” White said.
“With this role I become more of an overseer of all things business here at Mississippi Today.”
White moved to Greenwood as a sixth-grader in 1993, and she graduated from Pillow Academy in 2000.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and then a master’s in Southern studies from the University of Mississippi.
Before joining Mississippi Today, White worked for the Mississippi Development Authority and Mississippi Arts Commission. She is currently the host of “Next Stop Mississippi” on Mississippi Public Broadcasting radio. She serves on the board of the Mississippi Book Festival and the advisory committee of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss.
White worked in state government for 10 years before deciding it was time to do something different.
“It was just really a great time in my career to make a change, but I was also super drawn to this organization because it is a mission-driven public service newsroom,” White said. “That was just unlike anything I have ever seen, and I have continued to be really excited about it.”
The idea of public service journalism drew White to the organization, and she said it is exciting to work with “an incredible team of reporters.”
She worked at the Greenwood Commonwealth as a news intern while she was earning her master’s. One of her focuses was writing about the revitalization of downtown Greenwood, she said.
In her new role, White hopes to continue to grow the business side of Mississippi Today and an infrastructure that supports its newsroom.
“Mississippi Today is entering its third year, so we are still a very young, startup newsroom,” White said.
“We are a nonprofit newsroom, which is a very different model than traditional newsrooms that really put a lot of focus on advertising sales and subscriptions. We put a lot of energy into turning readers into donors and also getting foundation support and grant support. That is an area that I certainly intend to grow over the next 18 months, the next few years.”
Mississippi Today also has made news reporting a collaborative endeavor involving its readers, hosting events across Mississippi including live interviews or panels with local community leaders in breweries called Newsroom from the Taproom.
The organization will also host a journalism summit in Jackson July 14 called “People, Politics and the Press.” White said knowing what is happening is more important now than ever.
“It’s really just a great moment to be in journalism,” she said.
White said the organization will always seek support from its readers and other foundations.
“Our goal is certainly is to grow our support within Mississippi. We want our readers to become supporters and really invest in what we really think is a great mission in public service — to make sure that Mississippians have access to great enterprise reporting, where both sides of the story are represented.”
• Contact Lauren Randall at 581-7239 or lrandall@gwcommonwealth.com.
