by Michael Goldberg, Mississippi Today
January 5, 2026
House Speaker Jason White’s office barred a Mississippi Today reporter from attending a press conference in the speaker’s office at the state Capitol on Monday.
White, a Republican and one of the most powerful government officials in the state, held the closed-door press conference inside his office at the Capitol. White conducted a question-and-answer session with numerous members of the media about the 2026 legislative session that begins Tuesday, according to a press release obtained by Mississippi Today.
The decision by the speaker’s office followed a Mississippi Today exclusive report in April that White, his staff and some of their spouses were treated to a trip to the 2025 Super Bowl by a sports-gambling company. After that story was published, Mississippi Today was removed from the speaker’s press distribution list, and his office stopped responding to requests for comment.
But Monday marked the first time that Mississippi Today, a credentialed member of the Capitol Press Corps and the largest newsroom in the state, was denied access to a press event in the speaker’s office attended by numerous media organizations.
Minutes before the press conference started, Tammy Cowart, White’s assistant, emerged from his office with a clipboard and asked reporters if they had been invited. When Cowart asked a Mississippi Today reporter which news outlet he worked for, she said she would need to check with other staffers before letting him inside.
“They sent out an exclusive invitation out to attend this. If you’re not on my list, I’ll just have to check, because you’re not on there,” Cowart said.
She then said the event was not a press conference, but a “specific Q&A.”
The event was not an exclusive interview. Numerous media organizations attended, including print, broadcast and radio outlets.
Cowart then returned to the speaker’s office and came out again minutes later to inform Mississippi Today’s reporter that he would not be allowed into the press conference.
“I checked, and it’s not an open press conference. It’s invitation only. You’re not on my list, you didn’t get the invitation, so you won’t be allowed in,” Cowart said.
Cowart said other news outlets were also not invited to the press event, but declined to say which ones.
A press release announcing the event and reviewed by Mississippi Today, said “only media directly receiving the media advisory” would be invited to attend.
“Mississippi Today is the largest newsroom in the state, and our journalists are careful to cover the news accurately and with context,” Mississippi Today Editor-in-Chief Emily Wagster Pettus, who covered the Mississippi Legislature for 31 years for The Clarion-Ledger and The Associated Press, said in a statement Monday.
“We and other news organizations are the eyes and ears of the public at the state Capitol,” she said. “It is petty and wrong for Speaker Jason White — or any other elected official — to cut off media access.”
Layne Bruce, executive director of the Mississippi Press Association, said in a statement Monday that White’s office should “treat all press outlets fairly.”
“We would urge the speaker’s office to open its doors and allow representatives from all press outlets to be included,” Bruce said. “We believe that in the spirit of transparency, and since this is taking place in a public building that is funded by the taxpayers, it is only proper.”
Bruce also pointed out that Mississippi Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, also a Republican, took questions about his legislative agenda from media outlets, including Mississippi Today, at a luncheon just hours before the event in White’s office.
The denial of press access in Mississippi comes amid broader tensions between the federal government and the press. Under the Trump administration, the White House has restricted Associated Press journalists from certain presidential press events after the outlet refused to adopt administration-preferred language, a move the AP has described as retaliatory and a violation of press freedoms. Separately, the Pentagon has altered press access rules, prompting concern from major news organizations that new restrictions limit independent coverage.
In a statement to the Clarion Ledger, White said: “The Media Q+A hosted in my office today was an invitation-only media opportunity, not an open, public press conference.”
Charlie Mitchell, an attorney and former newspaper editor who has taught media law at the University of Mississippi, said White’s decision raised questions about whether the speaker has complied with the First Amendment.
“The speaker may have been thinking about his complete discretion when it comes to interviews and responding to inquiries, Mitchell said. “If, for instance, he wanted to return a phone call to one journalist and not another, that’s perfectly OK. Press events are very different.”
The scenario could parallel a federal court decision in favor of the AP, which “made clear the First Amendment does not allow officials to exclude credentialed journalists from otherwise open press events,” Mitchell said.
Mississippi Today received an audio recording of the speaker’s press conference from multiple organizations that attended the event and will report on the speaker’s comments along with those made hours earlier by Hosemann on the 2026 legislative session.
Taylor Spillman, White’s spokesperson, did not respond to multiple questions sent via text message and email about the decision by the speaker’s office to bar Mississippi Today from its press conference and remove it from its media distribution list.
Spillman and Cowart were both photographed on the trip to the 2025 Super Bowl with White. DraftKings, a sports gambling giant pushing for the legalization of mobile sports betting in Mississippi, confirmed with Mississippi Today that the gambling industry paid for the game-day tickets.
Spillman and her husband, Trey Spillman, documented Super Bowl festivities on social media.
A day after the Super Bowl, Trey Spillman took to social media to thank DraftKings for the experience.
“Unforgettable experience at Super Bowl LIX. Thank you @draftkings for the hospitality! #sports”
But after Mississippi Today asked the Spillmans about the trip, the social media post was changed to remove any mention of DraftKings and the company’s “hospitality.”
“Unforgettable experience at Super Bowl LIX. #sports,” the edited post reads.
The sports gambling lobby, as it has done in other states, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Mississippi politicians trying to convince them to legalize mobile sports betting.
The issue is likely to become another priority for the House this legislative session.
Mississippi Today reporter Taylor Vance contributed to this report
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date: 2026-01-06 16:45:00