Mississippi Today is excited to announce that Molly Minta, who has been covering higher education for the newsroom since 2021, has moved full-time to the newly launched Jackson team.
In her new role, Minta’s reporting will take an expansive view of topics like public safety, such as community-level examinations of housing and code enforcement, public parks and blight, economic and mental health resources across the capital city, as well as policing.
“In building up this new beat, some of my favorite conversations about smart ways to tell Jackson’s untold stories have been with Molly,” said Jackson Editor Anna Wolfe. “In the last four days, she’s already attended four community forums, pounding pavement to meet Jacksonians and talk about the issues that matter most to them. It’s obvious how fired up she is to get to work covering our city.”
READ MORE: Mississippi Today announces new team of reporters to cover the city of Jackson
Since joining Mississippi Today, Minta has consistently published gripping reporting on higher education policy, governance and equity in Mississippi’s colleges and universities, twice placing in national education reporting awards. Her past work, in partnership with Open Campus, explored secrecy and unfairness in the state’s higher education system, from funding disparities to faculty-administration relationships.
Her investigative focus will continue on the Jackson team, where she will join Wolfe and reporter Maya Miller. The team plans to add another reporter this spring.
“I’ve lived in Jackson since moving to Mississippi four years ago, so I’m approaching this beat with questions you can only get from lived experience in this city,” Minta said. “There’s so much we don’t know about this city, and my goal will be to make information about the way Jackson works more accessible to everybody. Who has power in this city, how did they get it, and are they using it to help Jackson thrive?”
Before her time at Mississippi Today, Minta worked as a fact-checker for outlets like The Nation, The Intercept and Mother Jones. She also ran an alternative magazine in Gainesville, Fla., called The Fine Print.
Though Minta’s focus has changed, Mississippi Today remains committed to covering higher education and will announce its plans for the role in coming days.
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