“This is not an Anita Lee tale.”
Which is what numerous persons have explained to me when they recalled seeing the Sunshine Herald reporter’s name pop up on their phones.
Anita’s status as 1 of Mississippi’s finest investigative reporters proceeds her, so persons can occasionally be on high alert when she phone calls, even if she’s crafting a element story or striving to conserve an animal or assistance a person in have to have.
During her time at the Sun Herald, Anita has described some some of the most explosive and unforgettable stories in history, from the Sherry murders in the course of the Dixie Mafia era to the downfall and convictions of ex-Division of Marine Resources Director Monthly bill Walker and his son, businessman Scott Walker.
On Friday, Anita was inducted to the Mississippi Press Association’s Corridor of Fame in Jackson.
Solar Herald Executive Editor Blake Kaplan nominated Anita for the prestigious award and spoke at a reception honoring her in Flowood.
“She is the coronary heart and soul and confront of the Sunshine Herald on the Mississippi Gulf Coastline,” Blake explained. “Anita is rock star.”
Anita explained to the space of Mississippi journalists, editors and fellow Corridor of Fame inductees about her time masking the news in Biloxi since 1987 and said she imagined of renowned investigative journalist Invoice Minimal, her mentor and buddy.
For several years, I experienced the absolute pleasure of sitting up coming to Anita in the previous Sun Herald setting up on DeBuys Street. When we weren’t rating trend crimson carpets or dishing about the most current Kardashian drama, Anita would normally convey to me about her protection of the stories that reshaped historical past in the Biloxi area. I have generally joked that you could learn a lot more about the Coastline on a cigarette crack with Anita than you could at the library.
As a new editor, I take into account Anita not only a colleague but an inspiration. There is no just one far more deserving of the honor of staying recognized for their overall body of work in the Magnolia Condition.
Anita’s most recent Solar Herald investigation, in partnership with ProPublica, examined how state lawmakers were shelling out thousands and thousands of dollars of BP oil spill funds that produced handful of superior-paying out careers. The story received the Invoice Minor award for General News reporting at Saturday’s Mississippi Press Association Far better Newspaper Contest.
The Solar Herald introduced dwelling 23 awards this year, which include leading honors for our trial coverage of a vet who faked his individual loss of life, reporting and social media posts on the killing of two Bay St. Louis police officers and our exploration into the potential of a historic Black community in downtown Bay St. Louis.
