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Beyond the Headlines: Race and Equity Journalism in the Deep South with Adria Walker

• Angela Tuell • Season 5 • Episode 17

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The power of storytelling lies not just in whose stories are told, but in who gets to tell them. For Adria Walker, a seventh-generation Mississippian and race and equity journalist for The Guardian, this understanding forms the foundation of her approach to reporting on Indigenous communities across the Deep South.

Walker's journey began with an unlikely childhood inspiration—the classic film "His Girl Friday" sparked her passion for journalism at just five years old. That early fascination evolved into a career defined by amplifying overlooked voices, particularly from her home state that's often misunderstood by outsiders. "Mississippi is the butt of everyone's jokes," Walker notes. "People have this idea of a state they've never visited, idea of people they've never seen." This experience of being prejudged has profoundly shaped her reporting philosophy: approaching every interview without preconceptions, letting subjects guide conversations, and seeking to understand communities on their own terms.

After starting as a teenage intern at a local alt-weekly, Walker's path took her through sociology studies, freelancing and reporting in upstate New York before returning to Mississippi to cover Gullah Geechee communities and other Indigenous groups for The Guardian. Her reporting methodology emphasizes genuine human connection—striking up conversations at gas stations, attending community events even when not reporting and building relationships that extend beyond single stories. This approach has yielded rich dividends, with stories naturally "snowballing" as community members recognize her commitment and share more leads.

Walker balances reporting on difficult subjects by prioritizing self-care and seeking stories that highlight joy alongside challenges. "If you're burning yourself out, you're not helping the communities you're reporting on," she explains. Her advice to aspiring journalists, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds, focuses on both mastering fundamentals and showing up consistently: "You have to learn the basics, but you also have to show up for people."

Discover how authentic, community-centered journalism can challenge stereotypes and elevate voices that deserve to be heard. Follow Adria's work at The Guardian or connect with her on social media @adriawalker to see how she's reshaping narratives about the Deep South.

Check out Adria's recent articles here: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/adria-r-walker

Indigenous tattoo revitalization 

Clarksdale, Miss grocery store 

Gullah Geechee partnership with Lowcountry food bank story

Gullah Gullah Island story


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Angela Tuell :

Welcome to Media in Minutes. This is your host, Angela Tuell. This podcast features in-depth interviews with those who report on the world around us. They share everything from their favorite stories to what happened behind the lens and give us a glimpse into their world From our studio here at Communications Redefined. This is Media in Minutes.

Angela Tuell :

Today, we're talking with race and equity journalist Adria Walker. Based in Mississippi, adria covers indigenous communities of the Deep South for the Guardian. A Mississippi native, she has built a career telling nuanced, human-centered stories about underrepresented communities. Before joining the Guardian, adria reported for the Democrat and Chronicle in New York and Mississippi Today, covering everything from maternal health disparities to the 2020 protest and criminal justice reform. Adria's storytelling blends deep reporting with cultural context, often amplifying overlooked voices across the Deep South. She's passionate about holding power to account, elevating joy within Indigenous communities and reporting stories that challenge perceptions. Hello Adria, how are you today? I'm well. How are you Doing? Well? I'm looking forward to our conversation. I must say we'll start at. You're a proud Mississippi native and currently based there. How did growing up there shape your voice and values as a journalist?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, absolutely so. Like you said, I am a very proud Mississippi native, seventh generation. Every family is very proud to be from Mississippi, but you know the national level we are really underdogs. Mississippi is the butt of everyone's strokes.

Adria Walker:

People have this idea of a state that they've never visited, idea of people they've never seen or interacted with, and I think it definitely shapes my reporting and my voice in that I approach every subject, every community, knowing what it's like to be the person that nobody bothered talking to before making a decision about. And so I try to make a point, to go into every interview, like I, even if I've done which I typically do prep for the interview, I try to just go in, you know, letting the person guide the interview, letting the person tell me their story, because I don't want to ever someone feel like I've felt before as a Mississippian traveling outside of the state. I always want to make sure that people know, you know I'm here to see exactly what you have to say, see your community for what it is and not for what I might think it is. Yes, and of course, we have a very strong, you know, journalistic history in Mississippi. Ida B Wells has been an inspiration of mine. Since I was a little girl, I've always thought it was very cool that she's from the state, so I think that, you know, just looking up to people like that has been very important for me as a Mississippian as well.

Angela Tuell :

Yeah, so did you always know, then that you wanted to pursue journalism?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, absolutely so. It's kind of ridiculous, but one of my favorite movies I kid you not as a five-year-old was His Girl Friday. I'm not even sure I joke with my mom all the time, why was I watching that at five, but it was one of my favorite movies and it really did get me interested in journalism. I think what I love about it is, you know, kind of what we were just talking about. I could see from the film how important journalism was. You know, you had reporters who, unfortunately, were apathetic, who were willing to let I don't want to say any spoilers, but they were willing to let something happen. That would have been very dire. But then you also had reporters who were like, hey, actually we can't let this happen. We have all the facts here. Something's not adding up. And so they went and did their jobs, they reported on the story and again, I'm not going to say any spoilers, but I will say something nice happened at the end. It was always a huge inspiration for me as a kid, something nice happened at the end.

Angela Tuell :

It was always a huge inspiration for me as a kid, yeah, and I think for those of us who always wanted to be a journalist, it's really disheartening and upsetting currently that there's a lot of negativity towards journalists.

Adria Walker:

How do you deal with that? Yeah, it's been really interesting to navigate. You know it's been really interesting to navigate. So I started interning at a local Alt Weekly gosh was that 14 years ago now? And it's really interesting to see the change in how people respond to my saying I'm a journalist over time. When I first started out, people were always like, oh, that's so cool, you know, tell me more about it. And now I get like, why do you guys lie? And I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa. So it has been really interesting to try to navigate the changing way in which people view media and view journalism. But I always try to use it as a teaching moment.

Adria Walker:

I think that a lot of people have ideas about, similarly to Mississippi. A lot of people have ideas about journalism, but they don't fully understand what journalism is. I've talked to so many people who say, well, I saw on the internet and I'll say, well, you know what was the source? And they will just have seen an Instagram post with like huge text and that's the source for them. And so I try to try to take it from that angle. Um, and it does kind of. Sometime, you know, it can be quite disheartening, but I have had a lot of success in saying you know you should find journalists who you trust and that's how you build your media literacy, that's how you respect the profession, that's how you understand the importance of the profession. Um, because I you know, we're fighting a very hard battle right now to get people to understand that reporters aren't the people who are making these posts with huge texts that say something that doesn't really make sense.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, yes, it's so frustrating to me when people I know or you know have run into, say they get their news from social media only, and social media is just a person, not a journalist what they're referring to. You know, like you said, a post like that, and that's how they get their news and that's how they afford to journalism. So, yes, we're all trying to educate every day. Definitely, can you walk us through your career path and how you got to the Guardian?

Adria Walker:

Yeah for sure. So, like I said, I started at a local alt weekly, the Jackson Free Press, about 14 years ago. As I said before, I always wanted to be a journalist, so it just kind of made sense that I began my internship there and I stayed there for several years. I was an intern for, I believe, two years. I actually started when I was 14. So once I was legally old enough to work, I became the editorial assistant, which was pretty cool, and I have always had a passion also for working with younger journalists, even when I myself was one.

Adria Walker:

So I worked with a lot of people, with, you know, people from middle schools or high schools, in a youth media project we planned and created. And so, yeah, at the JFP I did a lot of that type of work. I worked with interns, I worked with freelancers and I really, you know, was able to hone my skills there there. Afterwards I went to college and I worked on my college's publication and continued just like interacting with different people. I actually didn't major in journalism, I majored in sociology and anthropology. I just thought it would be an interesting way to hone different skills and I really do credit that with my research and interviewing skills and afterwards I was a freelancer for a couple of years. I joined a report for America in 2020 and moved to upstate New York.

Angela Tuell :

Oh wow, that's quite different from where you are. Yeah, it's a huge change from Mississippi.

Adria Walker:

I saw like real snow for the first time, which was crazy. But yeah, I lived there for several years, reported there for several years. I was with the Democrat and Chronicle initially, and then I accepted the job with the USA Today Network of New York. Okay, and so I stayed there for several years before returning to Mississippi and starting my job at the Guardian.

Angela Tuell :

Wow, that's great. That's quite a quick move up, I would say as well, and you've covered everything from community activism to maternal health, to criminal justice and small town politics, as you've mentioned. What led you to what you focus on at the Guardian now, and tell us more about that focus, please?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, so I am one of the race and equity reporters at the Guardian with a specific focus on Gullah Geechee communities and that kind of is born out of an initiative that the Guardian specifically has, but it's also just been an interest of mine for years. I think like many millennial or Gen Z adults, I grew up watching Gullah Gullah Island and of course it's not an anthropological or documentary style show or anything. It was for preschoolers, but it was my introduction to the Gullah Geechee community and then as an adult I would just read more about the community and I just thought it was very interesting and one of those communities that we owe a lot culturally to, but you don't see as much reporting on the people who exist today, and so, because the Guardian did already have that interest, it just felt quite serendipitous. The Guardian was also interested in expanding coverage of the Deep South.

Adria Walker:

As I've said, proud Mississippian, I mean, I do have Louisiana roots and I'm proud of those as well. So the ability to report on the region that I am so passionate about was just something that I couldn't pass up. And, yeah, I'm grateful to be able to tell these stories, to be able to, for instance, I've done a lot of reporting lately in the Mississippi Delta and I'm grateful to be able to do that. These are stories that you know might seem very local, but do often have a national impact. And even when they don't, I think it's important for people in other places to know what's happening across the country. So, yeah, I'm very grateful for the reporting I'm able to do.

Angela Tuell :

What are some of your recent most memorable stories?

Adria Walker:

Oh, my gosh, there's so many. So, like I said, I've been recently reporting a lot from the Mississippi Delta and I started that last year. I wrote about an art exhibit of farmers in the Delta and from that exhibit I was invited to write about a corner store which is essentially a type of grocery store that was opening in Clarksdale, mississippi, and from there I was invited to write about the sinners sorry, the sinners screening in Clarksdale. So I just really love how these stories kind of snowball yeah, and you know I started having people like by the time that I reported about the grocery store I started having people say, oh, weren't you the girl who you know wrote about this? And I think that that's just something that's so important.

Adria Walker:

Building those community connections even if you're not like I don't live in the Delta, I'm not physically there all the time, but through reporting, through just interacting with people, through letting sources know, you know you can call and just tell me about something I might not write about but I do value you as a person and not just a source is super important. I've also been fortunate enough to start expanding coverage of Indigenous communities. So I wrote recently about a group called Nchunwa which is working to revitalize Southeastern traditional tattoos. Yeah, that one was pretty cool. And that's another story that was just kind of born out of doing reporting and connecting with folks and interacting with people and letting them know like, hey, if you have an idea, feel free to reach out and you know I'll do my best to see if I can write about it.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, that's fantastic. What other ways do you try to find stories, these stories?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, it's really all over, I mean. So I do travel quite a bit for work and I try to do my best to just like talk to people. Um, like I'll, if I'm pumping gas, I'll just talk to the person in the gas station, like, what's going on in your city, what's happening here? Um, I'm driving through, tell me something weird about your city. And one thing that I've really found is that people just want to talk, they want to interact. I think that, you know, especially as we live in such a digital world, such a fragmented world, people don't get those face-to-face connections as often. Going on has really benefited me and I think from there, you know, people see that it is genuine and once they do start reading the stories, they're more excited to, you know, reach out to me and say, hey, you know, I know you told me that you would be interested in writing about something, what about this? And so, yeah, that's been very beneficial.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, I know that journalism around race and equity can be emotionally heavy. What helps you stay grounded, you know, or take care of your mental health when you're working on some of the stories that might be more negative?

Adria Walker:

And that's something that you know. You just learn over time. There was a period before I started at the Guardian that I was working on just so many just taxing and draining stories. When I lived in upstate New York, I covered the shooting in Buffalo and I spent just months just reporting. I mean, I'm grateful for that reporting, but it was just like incredibly draining, yes, and from that I essentially had to force myself not to do that. I had to force myself. You know, if you're going to write a story about something horrific, you have to write something that's hopeful.

Adria Walker:

Um, and even just outside of that, I'm a certified yoga teacher. But while I was doing a lot of that reporting, I stopped my own practice, um, just out of stress, and so I had to force myself to start practicing again. I had to force myself. I like to hike. I had to force myself to start hiking again. You know, just finding these little things to disconnect completely from reporting on is so important and I think that honestly just goes for like any industry. I think that once you get to the point where you're just taking it home and it's all you can think about, you're not helping yourself and you're not helping you know the communities in which you're reporting, if you're burning yourself out, if you're draining yourself. So I see it as my self taking care of myself, but also taking care of the people I write about, just so I can show up as best as I can.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, that's such great advice. What other advice would you give to young journalists you know, especially those from underrepresented communities who are hoping to tell stories that matter?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, I mean, I just think it's so important and this really just goes to all journalists but it's so important to just do the work. You know you have to learn the basics but you also have to show up for people and with people. Like I said, just my attending events that I might not be writing about, but just making sure that people see me in the community has been so helpful and also just affirming for people that their stories are interesting, their stories do matter, has been really important and that's something that I think, even when I was just starting out, I tried to, you know, take into the field with me, even before I was could drive while I was reporting. I would just show up and just be like ridiculously curious about the people around me.

Adria Walker:

And, of course, learning the basics. That's something that when I am working with younger journalists, I do just try to hone in. You know, it doesn't matter how good you are at asking questions If you can't write the story. You have to know those basics. And learning them, you know, for some people might be tedious, but if you do have a commitment to these communities, if you do have a commitment to your readers, then you want to give them a good product. So I do always hone that in as well. You have to learn the basics, but then you also have to show up for people.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, absolutely. I know that many of us know what the Guardian is and you know a little bit about it. What would you say for those who are not super familiar with the outlet?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, so the Guardian is an international publication. I work specifically for the Guardian US, but we are like kind of under the banner of the big Guardian, which is based out of the UK. There's also Guardian Australia and Guardian Europe, and so we do have a global mindset, but we also are very local in a lot of the stories that we do, which I just think is a really interesting um combination. Yes, it's led to some funny copy things. Sometimes I'll get emails from readers, um, and they'll say something about like an editorial decision in the copy and I'll have to say, yeah, that's the style in the UK. Um, yes, but I do think it's.

Adria Walker:

I do think it's interesting even from that, just learning about, you know not, I am a bit of a journalism nerd, so it's really cool to see, just like across the world, how different copy things exist. So yeah, that's my the stories there. Many of our listeners are in public relations.

Angela Tuell :

So I have to ask you what makes a pitch stand out to you when you're deciding what to pursue or cover? Do you get pitches? Very often from publicists.

Adria Walker:

Yeah, absolutely I do, and I think one of the main things is just being able to tell that they're familiar with my work. Yeah, it gets frustrating sometimes to get pitches that don't really make sense for me to cover. So I think that just being able to tell that the person who's reaching out knows okay, she's written about this before she might be interested in this is very important to me. And also just having a pitch that's clear I've gotten a few pitches that didn't really make sense to me and also just having a pitch that's clear. I've gotten a few pitches that didn't really make sense to me. And I do often try to follow up, especially when I have time or a lull in stories. I'll try to follow up and just kind of try to help people ask a better question.

Adria Walker:

I don't always have that time and I do sometimes feel guilty about it. But you know, I think we can bridge the gap there by being familiar with the reporters or pitching. I do also try to forward pitches to other people when I know that I wouldn't write about it, but it's something that I think a colleague might be interested in.

Angela Tuell :

That is so great. I know it's really hard when you're very busy to follow all of them. How many stories a week do you write?

Adria Walker:

Oh, it really varies, gosh. I'd say probably between three to seven. But I typically have quicker stories. I have, you know, short-term stories, I have the longer-term stories. So it really is a mixed bag. I always find that question a bit difficult to answer. I don't know if I should count the back burner stories. I don't know if I should count the dailies. I don't know if I should count the dailies, and of course every week does look different. I'll have some weeks where there's just essentially a story coming out every day, and then I'll have some weeks where maybe just a couple of stories come out. So it really does?

Angela Tuell :

This is probably a difficult question and a very broad one, but I must ask because of your expertise, you know where do you feel there are gaps in media coverage in general that you wish more journalists or communicators you know would pay attention to when it comes to race policy, community stories?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, I think that, and this is kind of something I've hinted at, but I think that it's really just not listening to people. Sometimes I'll frustrate myself, even with re-listening to an interview and say, oh, why didn't you ask about X, y, z? And I think I do see that in general in coverage. There's often like a dangling idea that someone you're interviewing will give you, and I don't think we do a great job of always following back up on those. It's certainly something that I want to improve in my reporting and I think it's just like a lifelong reporting goal for everybody to be the best reporter they can.

Adria Walker:

But that's so important, you know, not leaving stones unturned just because we're often interacting with people with whom you might be the first journalist they've ever spoken.

Adria Walker:

They might not have ever seen any stories written about their communities or if they have, they might be stories that aren't really representative of their communities, and so it's really important to understand, like all of that going into the interview, and so I try to ask follow-up questions that if, even if they don't really answer what I'm asking the first time, just continue asking follow-up questions and not in a way that can, you know, be overwhelming to somebody who's never been interviewed before, but just to really get the you know understanding I'm looking for. But yeah, like I said before, it's just really important to show up and do the work. I mean, like I said, we're reporting on communities who might not have ever had a journalist show up for them before, and so they might not know what to ask, they might not know what to say, and so we just have to kind of be that introductory person for them, you know, outside of that reporting world where you're working can help support and I guess just help support this type of journalism.

Adria Walker:

Yeah, I mean, I think for me personally, I really appreciate when people reach out and say, hey, I read XYZ, I learned this, or something like that. It just really helps me to know that the reporting I'm doing is useful for people. They're learning from it, I think, in a broader scale. You know, just supporting the publications that you read regularly. The Guardian doesn't have a paywall, but we do have a little notification at the bottom that says hey, you can donate here, support the stories here. So I think that supporting publications that you like supporting, you can donate here, support the stories here. So I think that supporting publications that you like supporting reporters you like is very important, especially given what we were talking about earlier about the changing media landscape and people not really understanding the work that we do. It's important to support us so that we can continue doing the work.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, absolutely. I love all of the new, especially on local basis, all of the new independent outlets that are popping up to cover underrepresented communities. I live in Indianapolis and we have like three in the last year or so that have started nonprofit outlets to cover those communities and I love reading and supporting them.

Adria Walker:

Yeah, those are super exciting for me and they're just also great ways for you know more people to be able to enter the field, which I'm always excited about.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, yes. So what's next for you? Project stories, your topics you're excited to explore in the coming months.

Adria Walker:

Yeah, I mean I'm continuing to try to expand my coverage of rural and that's one of those words where my accent comes out very ugly but of rural communities. I think that the rural people are certainly a group that we're not doing and I don't mean the Guardian in particular, but just like media not doing a great job of reaching and I'm just so interested in their stories and I think that they're very important for all of us on a local, national and international level. I'm also interested in continuing to expand my coverage of Indigenous communities. I've done a lot of reporting on the Southeastern nations. I'd like to expand that to people outside of that geographic area and, like I said initially, I'm just interested in continuing my reporting on the Gullah Geechee communities.

Adria Walker:

I've learned a lot in doing the reporting and I'm excited every day I get to show up and learn something else and of course this is a you know, home state bias, but I am very much looking forward to continue reporting from Mississippi and about Mississippi. It's been very satisfying to have people from across the country and world reach out and say, hey, you know, I didn't know Mississippi had XYZ or I didn't know this about Mississippi and so, yeah, that's been really, really gratifying for me. As you know, we've established I'm an aggressively passionate Mississippian.

Angela Tuell :

I love that and you know, although you've been doing journalism for a while now, you're still younger in your career. What do you hope the future holds? Do you have any?

Adria Walker:

big goals. Yeah, I mean, I definitely want to continue doing this work. I'd like to write a book at some point and I do love despite my age interacting with younger journalists, so I'd love to. You know I've done a lot of like volunteering with school newspapers or different things like that, but I'd love to just teach some foundational courses. I think that they're just so important and you know, I grew up admiring journalists and wanting to be one, and I just hope that we can continue that for the coming generations.

Angela Tuell :

Yes, me as well. How can our listeners follow your work and connect with you online?

Adria Walker:

Yeah, so the Guardian, of course, has a byline page, so if you click my byline, you can just read more of my work there. But then I'm also on social media. I haven't used my Twitter or X in a couple of years. I've yet to use my blue sky, but I am on both of those and eventually I plan on sharing something. And then I'm also on Instagram and I have the same ad on all of them it's my name, adria Walker, without the E.

Angela Tuell :

Wonderful. Thank you so much, adria. Thank you for your time today. That's all for this episode of Media in Minutes, a podcast by Communications Redefined. Take a moment to rate, review and subscribe to our show. We'd love to hear what you think. You can find more at communicationsredefinedcom slash podcast. I'm your host, Angela Tuell. Talk to you next time.