Former NFL quarterback Brett Favre has been in the news a lot over the past year over his alleged role in the $77 million Mississippi welfare scandal that diverted money meant for the state’s poorest residents towards a drug company he invested in and a volleyball complex at his alma mater.
A lot of that has to do with Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today, whose investigative series shined a spotlight on the scandal and Favre’s alleged involvement.
Now, Wolfe has won a Pulitzer Prize for her outstanding work.
Anna Wolfe and Mississippi Today have won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for the welfare scandal investigative series The Backchannel! 🥂 https://t.co/oT9d24YcxP pic.twitter.com/1WjbI1wmwF
— Mississippi Today (@MSTODAYnews) May 8, 2023
In the official announcement, Marjorie Miller, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes, said that Wolfe’s reporting “revealed how a former Mississippi governor used his office to steer millions of state welfare dollars to benefit his family and friends, including NFL quarterback Brett Favre.”
Adam Ganucheau, editor-in-chief of Mississippi Today, was elated about the Prize, which was the first for the nonprofit digital newsroom.
“I’m very aware of the importance of this moment for us and for Anna and for me, and it’s the top of the mountain for any journalist in America,” Ganucheau told Poynter. “So for us to have done this at little ol’ Mississippi Today… we have scrapped our way through the startup phase just a little bit more than seven years ago in early 2016, to building up the largest newsroom in the state, to having some, I think, real impact in our reporting on Mississippi – a state that really desperately needs that reporting. It is just an honor.”
The sports world was very impressed with the honor given to the ongoing story.
Congratulations to @ayewolfe and Team @MSTODAYnews for winning a Pulitzer for their series involving the welfare scandal that is shaping the politics in Mississippi. Without this kind of journalism the corruption surrounding over $70M of funds intended for poor folks would have… https://t.co/RgdK4S8Uqn
— Doug Jones (@DougJones) May 9, 2023
Reporter Anna Wolfe who stuck with the investigation on misuse of Mississippi welfare funds, that included Brett Favre, has won the Pulitzer Prize for her reports. She'll be speaking in Milwaukee this weekend. #FACTS https://t.co/hILulQbzuI
— Mike Clemens (@MikeClemensNFL) May 9, 2023
I haven’t seen a win this inevitable since the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. https://t.co/1gtIDmFGHr
— Sanford Johnson (@SanfordLJohnson) May 8, 2023
https://twitter.com/Adam_Northam/status/1655702303029047299
[Poynter]
