Andy Lack, founder and executive chairman of Deep South Today, has announced a $3 million gift to the nonprofit news network to support two major initiatives: a network-wide video operation and a new regional investigative reporting center.
The Deep South Today gift, announced this week, is part of a new $7 million commitment Lack is making to nonprofit journalism — bringing his industry gift total to $12 million.
Lack’s new gift will establish Deep South Today Studios, a video journalism operation producing original reporting and visual storytelling across the network’s newsrooms, including Mississippi Today, Verite News in New Orleans and The Current in Lafayette. DST Studios will also serve any other newsrooms that become part of the network, including the one in Arkansas that is set to launch later this year.
The new gift will also support the Deep South Today Investigative Reporting Center, a regional investigative hub launched in partnership with The New York Times and Big Local News. Deep South Today is actively hiring for the center in the first months of 2026.
“We are tremendously grateful to Andy Lack for his vision, leadership, and generosity as he helps us build a sustainable and impactful news operation to serve our region,” said Warwick Sabin, president and CEO of Deep South Today. “With this new support, he is doubling down on nonprofit local journalism and investing in innovation.”
The newly announced gift builds on more than $5 million Lack has contributed over the past decade, supporting Deep South Today’s growth as well as a PBS show he created called “Breaking the Deadlock.” All in, he has committed $12 million to nonprofit journalism — the largest contribution of its kind by any individual journalist.
“Nonprofit journalism is essential to a healthy democracy,” Lack said in a release. “Whether through investigative reporting or innovative digital storytelling, these organizations help inform the public, hold power to account and elevate facts over noise. I’m proud to support work that expands access to independent journalism, particularly in underserved communities where traditional local news sources have disappeared.”
Before he founded Mississippi Today in 2016 and later launched Deep South Today in 2022, Lack was a journalist and media executive with more than four decades of experience in broadcast and digital media. He began his career as a producer at CBS News, working on 60 Minutes and CBS Reports, before rising to president and chairman of NBC News and MSNBC, which launched under his leadership. He has also served as chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, CEO of Bloomberg Media Group, and the first CEO of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the federal agency overseeing Voice of America and Radio Free Europe. He is a Peabody Award winner and the recipient of 16 Emmy Awards.
About Deep South Today:
Deep South Today is a nonprofit network of local newsrooms that includes Mississippi Today, Verite News, and The Current.
Founded in 2016, Mississippi Today is now the largest newsroom in the state, and in 2023 it won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting. Verite News launched in 2022 in New Orleans, where it covers inequities facing communities of color. The Current is a nonprofit news organization founded in 2018 serving Lafayette and southern Louisiana.
With its regional scale and scope, Deep South Today is rebuilding and re-energizing local journalism in communities where it had previously eroded, and ensuring its long-term growth and sustainability.
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