By J.C. Bruce
A little-known state government advisory board has been meeting in secret, and it could determine how controversial herbicides are used to combat aquatic weeds in public waterways.
In the Gulf of Mexico, artificial reefs are being built off Florida’s coast that will eventually create “a fluid highway of sorts for the migratory fish and other marine species to move up the coastline safely.”
Because of legislation—pushed by special interests—”some untold number of condo residents across Florida would end up being forced to pay more to protect their buildings against hurricanes and other risks — and they could end up paying that money to an insurance company they never wanted to do business with in the first place.”
And fewer aspiring lawyers seeking admission to the Florida Bar have been able to pass the exam this year following a Florida Supreme Court ruling that allows students from schools other than those accredited by the American Bar Association to take the test.
I know all this from reporting by independent news organizations, not big corporate media outlets.
These were stories originally published in The Florida Trib, WGCU News, the Seeking Rents Substack site of journalist Jason Garcia, and Florida Phoenix.
I’m prompted to share this in response to an email I received Sunday from Michael Braun, the managing editor of WGCU, the public media station at Florida Gulf Coast University. Braun wrote in response to my Sunday newsletter in which I bemoaned the loss of so many journalists at the state’s newspapers. But I also highlighted the work of several independent reporters and non-profit news outlets.
His letter:
JC, good for you shouting out Sandy (Parker). She’s a pistol. And the Trident as well.
But you should have also called attention to nonprofit newsrooms The Trib and Suncoast Searchlight, too. Both doing excellent work that we love to reprint and air at WGCU. And while I’m at it, lol .... how about some love for all the public media stations across Florida including WLRN, WUSF, WFSU, WUFT, Central Florida Public Media, WJCT and of course WGCU? We’re doing some of the work newspapers used to do (and hiring some of their people as well, I have 5 former print peeps on my staff, 6 if you count me).
Keep it up, enjoy reading you.
I spend a good portion of every workday (which is every day) scouring stories online, and I am very familiar with the great work at the state’s public media stations, including WGCU, which is close to home, and WUSF at the University of South Florida, my alma mater.
Tropic Press has often reprinted stories from Florida Phoenix and Florida Trident, two of the state’s better-known non-profits, but less so from The Florida Trib and Suncoast Searchlight. You can look forward to seeing contributions from them more frequently in the future, including this piece from Trib reporter Nicolas Rivero that I mentioned above:
It’s already been posted on the Tropic Press website, and you can read it here.
You can also find the highly informative article about artificial reefs by reporter Tom Bayles of WGCU, which I also mentioned at the top of this column:
It’s also on the Tropic Press website here.
And at Michael Braun’s suggestion, I also spent some time perusing the Suncoast Spotlight website. I was already pretty familiar with their work—and the many awards they have won. But I was especially drawn to this story headlined:
The Suncoast is Losing Reporters. What
Happens When No One is Watching?
It’s by the Spotlight’s executive editor-in-chief, Emily Le Coz, and it tracks many of the points I was making Sunday in my newsletter about the erosion of oversight with the decline of newspapers. You can read her full article here, which I commend, and I was especially taken by her closing argument:
… this isn’t just about saving newspapers or preserving journalism for journalism’s sake. It’s about whether we will continue to know what’s happening in our communities — who is making decisions, how our money is being spent and how the place we call home is changing.
Which is why independent media is worth supporting.
Thanks for your support
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Thanks.
J.C. Bruce
Appreciate the great information here. Keep up the great work!
Secret behind-closed-door meeting should be absolutely illegal with severe closed-door repercussions; those closed doors being on prison cells. The Florida legislature, governor and his pals are simply out of control. They are allowed to engage in graft and corruption, fund sharing, and as good Republicans, telling lies. It's time to stop it. In every pot a chicken; in every jail cell a politician.
I've had it with rich beach dwellers causing outrageous insurance rates because they build multi-million dollar castles or buy condos in high-rise buildings on beach fronts. If insurance is to be required to get a mortgage then that is all the insurance should cover, not replacement of the opulent, eco challenging building. The mortgage company took the risk of financing (which is stupid on their part) but they should at least get their payback. The property owners took the risk of building or buying seriously at-risk property, and if it is lost by weather destruction then they should bear the cost of replacing it (like the idiots they are). Building on at-risk coastal property should be eliminated at least so that nature could run its course and "do it right", possibly preventing coastal damage caused by building buildings and sea walls to protect them. They are generally making things worse and accelerating the problem. It is time that the "American approach", that is treating the symptom rather than the problem, be stopped.