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Mississippi Today

Local Reporting

Continued coverage of state officials’ alleged misuse of federal welfare funds

DESCRIPTION

More than a year after Mississippi Today published a Pulitzer Prize-winning expose about the misappropriation of $77 million in federal welfare grants, former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant sued the nonprofit newsroom for defamation, citing comments made by Mississippi Today’s publisher and journalists after the Pulitzer announcement. Bryant’s lawsuit threatened to compromise the confidentiality of a Mississippi Today source who leaked the former governor’s text messages about the welfare funds — and put at risk the financial viability of the newsroom. Mississippi Today nevertheless continued to protect its sources and cover fallout from the welfare scandal, while maintaining its commitment to seeking fair comment from Bryant.

JUDGES CITATION

For covering fallout from its prize-winning expose of Mississippi’s $77 million
welfare scandal, despite an ongoing lawsuit against Mississippi Today by a
powerful ex-governor