Deep South Today has been awarded a $1,200,000 grant from The Skyline Foundation. The multi-year, general operating support grant is made possible through the foundation’s Just Democracy initiative, which has an emphasis on journalism among other priority areas.
“We are deeply grateful for this generous support from the Skyline Foundation, which affirms and underscores the critical role that local journalism plays in upholding our civic society and democratic institutions,” said Warwick Sabin, President and CEO of Deep South Today. “Through the high-quality investigative and accountability reporting of our newsrooms – Mississippi Today and Verite News – and our work to develop diverse and inclusive pathways into journalism careers and news leadership, we are honored to be part of the Skyline Foundation’s efforts to achieve a more equitable and just future.”
Founded in 2000 by Angela and David Filo, the Skyline Foundation is a family foundation that funds local, national and global organizations addressing programs at their roots and shifting systems toward a more equitable and just future. The Filos, along with a staff of eight foundation employees, view the “sole mission and everyday work of the foundation to be finding and funding organizations with inspired, innovative leadership whose missions align with the foundation’s values and vision for the future,” according to the Skyline Foundation website.
“Deep South Today is strengthening the media landscape – and our democracy – by fostering more informed, engaged communities in Mississippi and throughout the South,” said Jenny Montoya Tansey, senior program officer at Skyline. “We deeply admire their determination to hold power to account.”
As part of their Just Democracy initiative, the foundation considers journalism essential to a thriving democracy and supports organizations working to strengthen the news and information ecosystem and innovate new models. Support for Deep South Today’s newsrooms, Mississippi Today and Verite News, is specifically focused on the high-quality investigative and accountability journalism produced by the outlets.
Deep South Today joins a growing list of grantees under this program area, including MLK 50, Capital B, Futuro Media Group, Marshall Project, Type Media Center and City Bureau.
Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today and Verite News. Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now one of the largest newsrooms in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Verite News launched in 2022 in New Orleans, where it covers inequities facing communities of color. With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.
The grant is Deep South Today’s second-largest multi-year investment to date. It builds upon the American Journalism Project’s recent $2 million, three-year investment in the organization’s business and revenue operations.
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