Lauchlin Fields

Audience Development Director, Mississippi Today

Lauchlin Fields is currently Mississippi Today’s Audience Development Director. Building on her early foundation in journalism as a community newspaper reporter and following her passion to elevate the voices of Mississippians, Lauchlin has designed a unique approach to growing and engaging audiences in Mississippi.

Lauchlin served as web manager for Mississippi Today before the site launched in 2016, a role she maintained until joining the team full-time as web editor August 2017. 

Lauchlin spearheaded the 2019 rebranding and website redesign, an initiative that, in part, led to almost 150% readership growth that year. In her previous role as web and engagement editor, she and her team created a suite of niche newsletter products that provide curated content on topics ranging from education to arts and culture.

Lauchlin’s focus on audience development and reader experience is a cornerstone in Mississippi Today’s growth strategy. She saw the need to bring together the editorial and marketing teams at Mississippi Today, resulting in the formation of a cross-departmental engagement team that worked to create reader resources through audience-first initiatives. She now leads a dedicated audience team. Each team member has objectives and responsibilities that fully align to the funnel with a focus on reaching new audiences, engaging deeply with readers and converting readers into paying members.

She also works closely with all staff to foster an audience engagement mindset across the organization by designing and creating reader resources, projects, events and distribution strategies.

Lauchlin has a bachelor’s in Southern Studies from the University of Mississippi. Before joining Mississippi Today, she was the founder and co-owner of Front Porch Fodder, a web and engagement design business that helped small businesses, nonprofits and museums amplify their stories and create unique user experiences. She also founded and published The ‘Sip magazine, a quarterly print publication that celebrated Mississippi’s diverse cultural landscape.  

She lives in Vicksburg, Mississippi, with her wife Olivia and their two sons, Grady (12) and Henry (7).