If you happened to have been in Jackson, Miss., back in 2001 and 2002, you probably know that the Jackson Free Press, the first news publication I co-founded in Mississippi, really grew out of a monthly gathering, then at Hal’s & Mal’s, that my partner Todd Stauffer and I hosted to gather up folks for a bit of fellowship and refreshments. It was a social habit I’d started when I was in grad school at Columbia in New York City: Bring together my journalism and other old and new friends in a central location, have fantastic conversation and do a touch of low-key networking. It’s like hosting a salon, but someone else does the dishes.
It was at those early Lounges in Jackson where the idea for the Jackson Free Press first took hold. After it launched, the gatherings became the JFP Lounge, and we had a Lounge List (email list) that pulled people together and formed the core of the coveted Best of Jackson invitation list. It was, frankly, a way to build community and connection, which we all need—now even more after pandemic hibernation.
Now at the Mississippi Free Press, we’re Loungin’ again. When Publisher Kimberly Griffin and I travel, we pick a location (often the hotel’s bar or a patio nearby), and we alert local supporters and donors to head over and say hello. We buy the appetizers, and see who turns up. We’ve done Lounges in Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Starkville and Oxford, Miss., so far. We see Mississippi ex-pats as well as readers without ties to Mississippi who love MFP reporting. We always get a jolt of energy and motivation from these meetups.
But, when we were in Washington, D.C., earlier this month for the Institute for Nonprofit News conference, y’all outdid yourselves in the nation’s capital. Lounge attendees took up much of the hotel restaurant, and it was a delightful mix of folks spanning generations. Most had strong Mississippi ties; a few had none. And you kept coming for nearly five hours, even after we moved to the couches in front after the
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