Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been in the news a lot over the past year over his alleged role in the $77 million Mississippi welfare scandal that diverted money meant for the state’s poorest residents towards a drug company he invested in and a volleyball complex at his alma mater.
A lot of that has to do with Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today, whose investigative series shined a spotlight on the scandal and Favre’s alleged involvement.
Now, Wolfe has won a Pulitzer Prize for her outstanding work.
In the official announcement, Marjorie Miller, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, said that Wolfe’s reporting “revealed how a former Mississippi governor used his office to steer millions of state welfare dollars to benefit his family and friends, including NFL quarterback Brett Favre.”
Adam Ganucheau, editor-in-chief of Mississippi Today, was elated about the Prize, which was the first for the nonprofit digital newsroom.
“I’m very aware of the importance of this moment for us and for Anna and for me, and it’s the top of the mountain for any journalist in America,” Ganucheau told Poynter. “So for us to have done this at little ol’ Mississippi Today… we have scrapped our way through the startup phase just a little bit more than seven years ago in early 2016, to building up the largest newsroom in the state, to having some, I think, real impact in our reporting on Mississippi – a state that really desperately needs that reporting. It is just an honor.”
The sports world was very impressed with the honor given to the ongoing story.
https://twitter.com/Adam_Northam/status/1655702303029047299
[Poynter]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.