Sun Herald will partner with ProPublica on yearlong MS Coast investigation
The Sun Herald will partner with nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica to produce a year-long project on an issue that affects the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Veteran journalist Anita Lee, who has worked as a Sun Herald investigative reporter for more than three decades, will work on the project under new ProPublica editor Steve Myers. She will be partnering with the company’s Local Reporting Network throughout 2022.
“Anita Lee is one of the deans of Mississippi journalism and is uniquely qualified to take on this project,” said Sun Herald Executive Editor Blake Kaplan. “Her work over the years speaks for itself. From the Dixie Mafia to Hurricane Katrina, Anita has always taken on the biggest stories and delivered for our readers.”
Kaplan and Sun Herald senior editor Justin Mitchell will work alongside Lee and the Local Reporting Network team throughout the year.
“I have long admired the stellar journalism ProPublica produces and can’t wait to work with this great group of journalists on a project that will hopefully benefit the Mississippi Coast, where I I’ll continue to be based,” Lee said. “I’ll miss working daily with our talented Sun Herald team, but they always know where to find me.”
The Sun Herald was one of five newspapers selected as newsroom partners for the group’s Local Reporting Network.
The others include:
- The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo
- The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate
- New Mexico in Depth
- Searchlight New Mexico
In her time at the Sun Herald, Lee has reported on the fall of the Dixie Mafia, led coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that earned the newsroom a Pulizter Prize and has investigated white-collar crime, most recently the yearslong drama of the conspiracy and fraud case involving ex-Department of Marine Resources leader Bill Walker and his son, Scott.
Lee also enjoys enterprise and feature reporting, and has been covering Turkey Creek, a historic Black community in Gulfport who is fighting against proposed developments residents say will harm their neighborhoods and livelihood.
Lee also worked closely with the Raleigh News & Observer and The State Newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, to produce Rising Tides, Sinking Future, a nine-part series about how climate change is killing tidelands along the coasts of Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The project was made possible by funding from the Pulitzer Center.
The Sun Herald will fill Lee’s position for one year until she returns as a full-time staff reporter in 2023.
