Jackson Free Press

This issue is the 13th birthday of the Jackson Free Press. Thirteen. Can you believe it? The paper has finally reached its teenage years. Fasten your seatbelts. In honor of our birthday, here are some facts about #TeamJFP. (See pics on Instagram.)

The newspaper's birthday always falls around Editor-in-Chief Donna Ladd's mother's birthday, Sept. 22, and has become the GOOD Ideas JXN issue.

Donna and Publisher Todd Stauffer met in Colorado in 1996.

Sales Director Kimberly Griffin started out as a part-time newspaper distributor.

JFP covers have featured LEGOs twice: a LEGO business man for a GOOD issue and LEGO Jackson for last year's Winter Arts Preview.

On average, Best of Jackson issues in late January have about 72 pages and are normally our biggest issue of the year.

To work on a single JFP publication, our design team uses five design programs. The newspaper is named for the Mississippi Free Press, a Civil Rights Movement newspaper that published in Jackson in the 1960s by a diverse staff. It did not make segregationists happy. Nor do we today, for that matter.

From Jan. 1 to Sept. 15, jfp.ms had a total of 2,450,318 page views.

We distribute the JFP to more than 500 places around the metro area.

Jackie Brown Bear has actually been with us for years (ever since News Editor R.L. Nave began working here in 2011) but has only in recent months come out of hibernation. She hasn't been around much lately because of the summer heat, but you may see her at Fondren's First Thursday in October.

Speaking of R.L. Nave, while some people may believe the R in his name stands for Ryan, R.L. actually stands for Real Life.

Our sister magazine BOOM Jackson actually started out as an annual issue, but in the last few years, it's progressed from annual to quarterly to its current bi-monthly state. Look for the holiday issue in November.

We like to stay involved in the community. Some of the JFP staffers will be at the Sept. 17 Museum After Hours event. On Sept. 19, we'll be at Gumbo Fest, and on Oct. 1, we'll be at Fondren's First Thursday.

We love connecting with our readers on social media. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at 
@jxnfreepress.