Why the New York Times is sticking around the South - Poynter

"The New York Times isn't new to working with local newsrooms. But it does appear to be getting better at the task. As my late colleague Rick Edmonds reported in 2011, the Times Company sold 16 regional newspapers it owned to invest in its own "next wave of digital development." Fourteen years later, I think we can agree the Times has reinvested in itself pretty well."

"In 2023, I wrote about the Times' Local Investigations Fellowship, which launched to work with journalists and newsrooms around the country to invest in, edit and support ambitious journalism. This year, one of those partnerships won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism with The Baltimore Banner. Now, the work moves beyond mere partnership. Last month, the Times announced its latest project - a regional investigative center with Deep South Today."

"The center, which launches early next year, will include a lead editor, full-time investigative reporters and data reporters, and fellows at Mississippi Today and Verite News in New Orleans, according to the press release. The center will also get support from Stanford University's Big Local News. (Fun fact: Verite News' editor-in-chief is Terry Baquet. The New York Times' Local Investigations Fellowship's executive editor is brother Dean Baquet.) "Our very first fellow came from Mississippi Today, investigating sheriffs across Mississippi," said Chris Davis, the fellowship's deputy editor."

The New York Times moved out of direct regional newspaper ownership in 2011 by selling 16 papers to focus on digital development and later reinvested in its operations. In recent years the Times has re-entered local news as a partner through initiatives that fund, edit, and support ambitious reporting across the country. The Local Investigations Fellowship placed reporters with newsrooms and helped produce a Pulitzer-winning partnership with The Baltimore Banner. The Times is launching a regional investigative center with Deep South Today that will include a lead editor, full-time investigative and data reporters, and fellows at Mississippi Today and Verite News. Stanford University's Big Local News will provide additional support.

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