Too many local news outlets have disappeared in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. The Gulf States Newsroom was created to ensure that stories related to health care, criminal justice, the economy and other important issues continue to be told. WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana, WBHM in Alabama, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and NPR are working together as a regional newsroom to plan coverage, share resources and add reporting power in a story-rich region that has for too long gone under-covered.
Support for the Gulf States Newsroom comes from WBHM, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, NPR, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the Public Welfare Foundation and the Trust for Civic Life. To learn more about the Gulf States Newsroom, email connect@gulfstatesnewsroom.org.
The Regional Team:
Ryan Vasquez, acting managing editor based at WWNO in New Orleans
Orlando Flores Jr., deputy managing editor based at WWNO in New Orleans
Stephan Bisaha, senior reporter covering economic mobility based at WBHM in Birmingham
Kat Stromquist, senior reporter covering justice, incarceration and gun violence based at WWNO in New Orleans
Drew Hawkins, public health reporter based at WWNO in New Orleans
Nellie Beckett, community engagement producer based at WBHM in Birmingham
Joseph King, sports and culture reporter based at WBHM in Birmingham
Marci Schramm, development director based at WWNO in New Orleans
Andrea Miller, business manager based at WBHM in Birmingham
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Alabama has 44 certified SANEs for the entire state. Louisiana has 42. Mississippi only has 6 — for a population of almost three million. -
Mississippi ranks near the bottom for the size of its tech industry. But despite its shortcomings, some believe the state is not far from its own tech boom. -
State lawmakers — both Republican and Democrat — are sounding the alarm on proposed cuts that could strip Medicaid coverage from nearly 190,000 Louisianans. -
Hunt's execution marks Alabama's third this year, on pace to match the six it carried out last year, and the fifth time it used the controversial method. -
Small businesses, like The Little House in New Orleans, are a common target for cyber crimes. Experts say social media companies should do more to stop them. -
The Netherlands has proven drug use harm reduction works. So why does it still face stigma, criminalization and political resistance in the Gulf South? -
The decision marks the second time within a year a federal judge has ordered corrections officials to boost heat precautions at Louisiana State Penitentiary. -
Local residents and activists successfully campaigned to bring the film to the Mississippi Delta town it's set in — which hasn’t had a theater in 20 years. -
The bill is part of a broader effort to curb waste and fraud in the program, which provides health coverage to more than 1.8 million low-income Louisianans. -
The Palestinian rights advocate spoke at length as part of a 10-hour hearing Thursday as the U.S. attempts to deport him. A ruling in his case was not made.
