On this episode, we're joined by Justin Baxley. Justin is a journalist based in the south who just completed 3 years working as a digital content manager for 13 WMAZ in Macon, Georgia.

He is in the process of transitioning to a new journalism job, but we wanted to talk to him now at the suggestion of Kristen Hare, our recent guest from the Poynter Institute.

Justin's father Michael was killed in 2017 in what is believed to be a robbery (multiple arrests were made just this February). Justin went through the experience of grieving his father while having to deal with probes from many different media outlets.

To give families of victims more control, Justin created the More Than A Number website, whose purpose is "To honor lives lost to violent crime, support their loved ones and promote more empathetic journalism."

The project, done as part of a Poynter fellowship, won a national journalism innovation award.

We talked to Justin about that project and other notable accomplishments from his journalism career.

Justin's salutes: Nick Wooten, Dallas Morning News; Kati Kokal, WUWM-Milwaukee.

More Than A Number Website

https://www.13wmaz.com/more-than-a-number

More Than A Number YouTube link

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8Ny6J4NZVlbJaWRYVdNiXwDmk6IC3Zc

Thank you for listening. You can e-mail me at journalismsalute@gmail.com

Visit our website: thejournalismsalute.org

Mark’s website (MarkSimonmedia.com)

Tweet us at @journalismpod and Bluesky at @marksimon.bsky.social

Subscribe to our newsletter– journalismsalute.substack.com