Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White, Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau, and reporter Anna Wolfe (left) and former Governor Phil Bryant (right)
- A Madison County Circuit Court judge has ordered Mississippi Today to identify sources and produce information related to statements its staff made against the former Governor.
The state Supreme Court has denied the appeal of Deep South Today, the parent company of Mississippi Today, in the defamation case brought against the online news outlet by former Governor Phil Bryant.
As previously reported, a Madison County Circuit Court judge ordered Mississippi Today to identify sources and produce information related to statements its staff made against the former Governor in their reporting of the TANF welfare scandal.
The online outlet argued that the May court order violated its constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
However, Chief Justice Mike Randolph, writing for the Court en banc, said, “After due consideration, the Court finds that Deep South’s Petition for Interlocutory Appeal should be denied.”
The Supreme Court also denied Bryant’s motion for damages claiming Mississippi Today’s appeal was frivolous.
Bryant’s defamation case stems from comments made by Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White when speaking on a panel at a journalism conference. White boasted that her outlet was “the newsroom that broke the story about $77 million in welfare funds intended for the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation being embezzled by a former governor and his bureaucratic cronies.”
Bryant has not be accused of or charged with any crime related to the welfare scandal.
In addition to those comments by their CEO, Mississippi Today characterized Bryant’s role in the scandal as “misuse and squandering” of funds in a 2022 Impact Report. The outlet has also said they had revealed that Bryant “used his office to steer the spending of millions of federal welfare dollars — money intended to help the state’s poorest residents — to benefit his family and friends.”
Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe and Editor-in-Chief Adam Ganucheau are also listed as defendants.
Mississippi is not among the states that have enacted “shield laws” to recognize a reporter’s privilege, nor has the Mississippi Supreme Court ever considered a reporter’s privilege case.
Frank Corder
