Dossier: Donna Ladd’s Weekly Report on Government and Media Accountability in Mississippi | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

Dossier: Donna Ladd’s Weekly Report on Government and Media Accountability in Mississippi

The Dossier appears every Friday in JFPDaily.com; subscribe free for breaking news, events, invitations and opinion.

Crime

DOSSIER: Shame on WLBT for Dishonoring Past with Empty Crime Rhetoric

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WLBT, the NBC affiliate of the Atlanta-based Gray Television, climbed fully on board with U.S. Attorney Hurst's false rhetoric that Jackson leaders and other locals are somehow "denying" gun violence in the capital city.

Politics

DOSSIER: Chuck Todd’s ‘Naive’ Screw-up Is Warning for Mississippi Reporting, Too

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If you were caught up in the spirit of the holiday, as I was on Christmas Eve, you might have missed one of the most disturbing interviews ever with a national journalist that Rolling Stone posted around midnight. In the interview with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd, also the host of "Meet the Press," the beleaguered and supposedly expert journalist revealed that he has recently figured out that Donald Trump and his supporters are intentionally using his program to spread disinformation (which he inaccurately called "misinformation," but we'll come back to that.)

Politics

DOSSIER: Mississippi Secrets Revealed, from 'Ole Miss' to RFK to Charles Overby

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"Most people in Mississippi who do not agree with the radical-conservative, racist status quo have always been afraid to speak publicly about it—certainly at least the white ones."

Politics

DOSSIER: Shanda Yates' Win in Mississippi Inspires Voters, Teaches Lessons

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If the last week has proved anything, it's that people in the U.S., in Mississippi and especially in the Jackson metropolitan area are excited about a political newcomer, Shanda Yates, defeating a long-time incumbent for the District 64 seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Politics

DOSSIER: From Bashing 'Boys of Spring' to Unpacking a Mississippi-Brexit Love Affair

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"TV networks may live and die on ratings and people screaming opinions at each other from two "sides," but our democracy really can't take much more of this kind of dangerous political gamesmanship."

Politics

DOSSIER: Of Corporate Media and Insulting Shenanigans

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What a week. The last 10 days saw not only the official demise of the Mississippi Democratic Party, at least the way it's run and strategized now, but it was filled with disillusioning encounters with local representatives of national media corporations for us, revealing a certain callous regard of other reporters and editors.

Politics

DOSSIER: GOP's Red-baiting Mailer Template, Campaign Lies, Bryant Miffed

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Republicans are already sending out glossy mailers warming up the crowd in Mississippi and other southern states to the necessity of electing Trump apologists and enablers—that is pretty much what Reeves' whole campaign is about at this point.

Education

DOSSIER: IHL Document Dump Raises Questions About Boyce Role

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In the course of my investigation into the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, multiple sources have repeated a simple refrain: The IHL's conduct in the Ole Miss chancellor search process may have been part of a long-planned scheme to install one of their own to lead the University of Mississippi. But, thus far, the depth of the alleged plotting is hard to prove.

City & County

DOSSIER: Hinds Doc Destruction Still Threat; Disrespect in Green's Court; N-JAM Club

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If you've been reading Seyma Bayram's coverage of the Hinds County Board of Supervisors and my previous Friday columns, you know that she was shocked to discover that the county voted one month ago to destroy a long list of documents spanning 23 years.

Crime

DOSSIER: Incoming DA Faces Accusations, NBC's Tentacles in Mississippi

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Multiple women are accusing Jody Owens, who won the Democratic primary and faces no challenger in November, of inappropriate and sexual behavior and comments from his time as the managing attorney of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Jackson office.

City & County

DOSSIER: Two Faces of Mississippi Powerhouses; Meek Strikes Back

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Power brokers like former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott can always find a sympathetic, or least non-questioning, ear back in the Magnolia State.

City & County

DOSSIER: County Documents At Risk, Public Meeting Confusion, No to WJTV

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The Jackson Free Press scored a transparency victory this week, at least for now, when the Hinds County Board of Supervisors provided us a list of the documents it plans to destroy, which I addressed in last week's Dossier after reporter Seyma Bayram learned about the impending destruction.

City & County

DOSSIER: Hitting Transparency Brick Walls, Scolded for Immigration Coverage

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"I'm officially launching my new weekly Dossier, which will spotlight our accountability journalism, whether about how ICE raids are conducted or when public officials aren't being transparent or not following proper protocols for informing the public about how they reach their decisions and the motivations behind policy."