Right now, before we vote in midterms in November, Mississippi lawmakers are holding eight public hearings across the state to hear from residents about potentially redrawing congressional, legislative, and judicial districts. The hearings began in August and continue through October 1 in Jackson. With family roots in the South, I’ve been following the coverage closely, and it’s reminded me why local journalism matters so much right now.
The debate follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this spring involving Louisiana, where the Court struck down a congressional map that included a second majority-Black district. Mississippi wasn’t ordered to redraw its maps, but lawmakers are considering whether the ruling gives them an opportunity to do so anyway. That question has drawn residents to hearings from Tupelo to Natchez.
Local folks haven’t been shy about sharing their concerns. Tupelo resident Katie Gilbert told lawmakers that decisions like this risk driving young, educated people away from the state. Another attendee, Chris Traylor, offered a simpler analogy: “If the car is already running fine on regular gas, he said, you don’t go looking for premium.”
Rev. Dr. Robert James of the state NAACP framed the stakes more broadly, saying democracy requires maps that “amplify the voices of the people, not the preferences of those in power,” according to WLBT.
None of these voices would reach the broader public without local reporters showing up. WLOX’s Gaven Wallace documented Mississippi Votes volunteers going door to door in Tupelo to make sure residents even knew about the hearing. WLBT’s Courtney Ann Jackson has followed the committee from town to town, while Mississippi Public Broadcasting has captured the voices of residents themselves. Mississippi Today is at every meeting asking the questions based on the input collected from the public.
That’s the whole point of local journalism. A hearing at a college auditorium in Natchez won’t make national news. Neither will a door-knocking campaign in Tupelo. But these are the moments when decisions about who represents a community are made, and when residents still have an opportunity to be heard.
Take away the local station, public broadcaster, or community reporter who shows up to a six o’clock meeting, and you take away much of the public record of how those decisions were made.
I’ve spent enough time around communities that feel forgotten by the maps drawn in state capitols to know this isn’t abstract. It affects who gets a seat at the table and whether people in small towns believe anyone in Jackson is listening.
The redistricting fight in Mississippi may ultimately be decided in committee rooms and courtrooms, but the public’s window into that process runs through outlets like WLOX, WLBT, and MPB. Support them, read them, and show up to the hearings they tell you about. That’s how this stays a fair fight.