Anna Wolfe

Last updated

Anna Wolfe is an American investigative journalist known for her work covering corruption in Mississippi's restitution centers and the welfare funds scandal. In 2023, Wolfe won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

Contents

Early life and education

Wolfe was born in Washington state [1] and grew up in Tacoma. [2] In 2012, she obtained an AA degree from Pierce College (Washington). [1] In that same year, Wolfe moved to Mississippi to attend Mississippi State University (MSU). While at MSU, Wolfe was a staff reporter for the student newspaper – The Reflector. [3] After graduating in 2014 with a BA degree in communication and journalism, [3] she relocated to Jackson. [1] As of 2023, Wolfe was serving on MSU's print and digital journalism advisory board in the journalism department. [3]

Career

Wolfe is an investigative journalist with Mississippi Today. [4] She and Michelle Liu won the February 2020 Sidney Award and the 2021 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for their investigation in conjunction with The Marshall Project, of Mississippi's restitution centers. [5] [6]

In 2023, Wolfe won a Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, a Livingston Award and a Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting for the second time for her work on The Backchannel [lower-alpha 1] series. [5] [7] [4] Wolfe's series unearthed new evidence about former Mississippi governor Phil Bryant’s role in the Mississippi welfare funds scandal, inspiring multiple court defendants to come forward with allegations against Bryant or publicly insist Bryant be held accountable. [5] The series also exposed key new players in the scandal like former National Football League quarterback Brett Favre, patterns of political nepotism and coercion, and proof that powerful figures kept millions from people who needed it most. [5]

Journalism positions

Awards

Defamation lawsuit

In May 2023, former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant gave notice of his intent to sue Deep South Today, doing business as Mississippi Today, and its chief executive officer Margaret White for defamation relative to comments she made at a Knight Foundation conference promoting Anna Wolfe's award-winning Backchannel series. [16] White's comments implied that the former governor misused $77 million in welfare funds and accused him of funneling millions of those welfare dollars to family and friends, even though Bryant had not been charged with any crime. [16] [17]

Shortly after Bryant had given notice of his intent to sue, CEO White issued a public apology stating that she misspoke at a recent media conference, that her remarks were not appropriate, and that the former governor had not been charged with any crime. [18] Nevertheless, Bryant proceeded with his civil action (Case: 45CI1:23-cv-00238-JM, Document # 9-2) which was filed in the circuit court of Madison County, Mississippi on July 26, 2023. [16] In the filing, Bryant requested all documents and communications that Anna Wolfe had access to during the writing of her series on the Mississippi welfare scandal. [19]

As of July 2024, Mississippi Today had requested that the Mississippi Supreme Court reverse a court order requiring the news outlet to turn over Wolfe's welfare scandal documents and the names of her confidential sources to a judge, who would determine if the evidence had relevance to Bryant's defamation case. [17]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The Backchannel is a five-part series on corruption in Mississippi welfare programs published in Mississippi Today (April 2022).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clay Bennett (cartoonist)</span> American cartoonist (born 1958)

Clay Bennett is an American editorial cartoonist. His cartoons typically present liberal viewpoints. Currently drawing for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Bennett is the recipient of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Marjie Lundstrom is an American journalist. She received the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 1991. Lundstrom has worked for The Fort Collins Coloradoan, the Denver Monthly, and The Denver Post. She was a reporter and senior writer for The Sacramento Bee. Currently, she is the deputy editor for two nonprofit publications, FairWarning, located in Pasadena, CA, and CalMatters, based in Sacramento.

James V. Grimaldi is an American journalist who serves as executive editor of the National Catholic Reporter. He was previously an investigative reporter and senior writer with the Wall Street Journal. He has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize three times, for investigative reporting in 1996 with the staff of the Orange County Register, in 2006 for his work on the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal while working for The Washington Post, and in 2023 with the staff of the Wall Street Journal for its capital assets series.

Hollis Jefferson Nesmith Jr. was an American journalist and author. During his time at the Dayton Daily News, he won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting with Russell Carollo for uncovering mismanagement in military healthcare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Baron</span> American journalist; editor of the Washington Post

Martin Baron is an American journalist who was editor of The Washington Post from December 31, 2012, until his retirement on February 28, 2021. He was previously editor of The Boston Globe from 2001 to 2012; during that period, the Globe's coverage of the Boston Catholic sexual abuse scandal earned a Pulitzer Prize.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Center for Investigative Reporting</span> Non-profit organisation in the US

The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) is a nonprofit news organization based in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting</span> American journalism award

The Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting is awarded to an example of "significant issues of local or statewide concern, demonstrating originality and community connection". This Pulitzer Prize was first awarded in 1948. Like most Pulitzers the winner receives a $15,000 award.

The Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting is an award for journalists administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University. The program was launched in 1991, with the goal of exposing examples of poor government, and encouraging good government in the United States. There is a $25,000 award for the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Higham</span> American journalist

Scott Higham is an American investigative journalist and author who documented the corporate and political forces that fueled the opioid epidemic, in addition to conducting other major investigations. He is a five-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Pulitzer twice with his colleagues at The Washington Post. After a 24-year career with The Post, he is now producing investigative projects for Bill Whitaker at 60 Minutes. He is also coauthor of two books.

Eric Nalder is an American investigative journalist based in Seattle, Washington. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes.

Diana Blackmon Henriques is an American financial journalist and author working in New York City. Since 1989, she has been a reporter on the staff of The New York Times working on staff until December 2011 and under contract as a contributing writer thereafter.

Alan C. Miller is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and the founder of the News Literacy Project, a national education nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to offer resources and tools that help middle school and high school students learn to separate fact from fiction. In 2020, NLP expanded its audience to include people of all ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Cohen (journalist)</span> American journalist and professor

Sarah Cohen is an American journalist, author, and professor. Cohen is a proponent of, and teaches classes on, computational journalism and authored the book "Numbers in the Newsroom: Using math and statistics in the news."

Duff Wilson is an American investigative reporter, formerly with The New York Times, later with Reuters. He is the first two-time winner of the Harvard University Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting, a two-time winner of the George Polk Award, and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Gary Cohn is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Carol Marbin Miller is a senior investigative reporter at The Miami Herald. Marbin Miller began covering social welfare programs at the St. Petersburg Times in the 1990s. She joined The Miami Herald in 2000 and has reported extensively on Florida's services to children as well as the state's juvenile justice system, programs for people with disabilities, mental health and elder care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Dreier</span> American journalist

Hannah Dreier is an American journalist. She works on longform investigations at the New York Times. Previously, she was a Venezuela correspondent for the Associated Press during the first four years of Nicolás Maduro's presidency. In 2016, she was kidnapped by the Venezuelan secret police and threatened because of her work.

Mississippi Today is a nonprofit online newspaper based in Ridgeland, Mississippi

Patricia Callahan is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American investigative journalist for ProPublica.

In February 2020, the office of the Mississippi State Auditor arrested six people it accused of mishandling federal funds disbursed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services, including the department's former director. In May, the auditor's office released a report identifying $94 million in questionable spending by the department, much of it being funneled through two nonprofits, the Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wolfe, Anna. "Anna Wolfe Profile". Linkedin. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "The 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Local Reporting|Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today, Ridgeland, Miss". pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  3. 1 2 3 "Breaking News: Communication Alumna Earns Pulitzer Prize". Alumnus Magazine | Mississippi State University. Summer 2023. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  4. 1 2 "Anna Wolfe wins Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Brett Favre, Mississippi welfare scandal". NBC Sports. 2023-05-09. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mississippi Today's Anna Wolfe wins 2023 Goldsmith Prize". Hattiesburg Patriot News Media. 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2024-07-07.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  6. 1 2 "Anna Wolfe and Michelle Liu win February Sidney Award". The Marshall Project. 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  7. 1 2 Currie, Alexis (2023-06-13). "Announcing the 2023 Livingston Award Winners". Wallace House Center for Journalists. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  8. ↑ "Anna Wolfe | Stories | JFP Mobile | Jackson, Mississippi". m.jacksonfreepress.com. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
  9. ↑ Wolfe, Anna (2015-11-09). "Mississippi gets D- grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  10. ↑ "The Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award (2020)". Online Journalism Awards. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  11. ↑ "2020 Poverty and Inequality Awards: The Winners". National Press Foundation. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  12. ↑ "2020 Winners | Green Eyeshade Awards" . Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  13. ↑ "2021 winners | Green Eyeshade Awards" . Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  14. ↑ "Collier Prize Winners 2021". UF College of Journalism and Communications. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  15. ↑ "Mississippi Today/Marshall Project and ProPublica Win 2021 Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Awards | John Jay College of Criminal Justice". www.jjay.cuny.edu. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  16. 1 2 3 Latino, Russ (2023-07-27). "Bryant was not bluffing Mississippi Today". Magnolia Tribune. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  17. 1 2 Dilanian, Ken; Strickler, Laura (2024-07-02). "She exposed how the nation's poorest state spent federal welfare money. Now she might go to jail". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  18. ↑ Latino, Russ (2023-05-18). "Mississippi Today CEO issues public apology to Phil Bryant". Magnolia Tribune. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  19. ↑ "Phil Bryant (Plaintiff) vs Mary Margaret White & Deep South Today dba Mississippi Today (Defendants)|Civil Action #23-238-JM in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Mississippi" (PDF). mississippifreepress.org. July 26, 2023. Retrieved 2024-09-17.

"The Backchannel". Mississippi Today. 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2024-09-13.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.