By J.C. Bruce
The news media was writing about the news media this week, and the stories were grim.
Two big developments:
Here in Florida, the Miami Herald’s owner, McClatchy Media, announced it was firing more than a third of the newspaper’s editorial staff, about 30 people.
As a Miami Herald veteran (and native Miamian), this felt like a double-barreled blast of bad news—not just that the newsroom of Florida’s most prestigious paper was seeing a third of its staff let go, but that 30 people comprised such a large percentage of what remains of that staff.
When I was at the Herald—admittedly many years ago—the paper could be found in news racks all over the state—it was Florida’s largest paper and nationally recognized, referred to in the same breath as the New York Times and Washington Post.
The downtown Miami newsroom was sprawling, employing hundreds of reporters, photographers, artists and editors. The paper’s Broward County bureau alone was larger than most other newspapers in the state.
Now that same legendary news organization has fewer than 60 editorial staff members left?
You can’t properly cover a metropolis like Miami with a newsroom that small. It’s a shame.
It also speaks to why we are seeing independent news outlets pop up all over the state and nation.
Reporters like Ted Lund in Key West, who single-handedly does what an entire newspaper staff used to do, watching over City Hall and county government with relentless coverage.
How independent journalist Jason Garcia doggedly investigates the influence of big business on the state’s public policy decisions.
How civic activist Sandy Parker has stepped up with her own newsletter to keep readers in Southwest Florida up to speed on local government meetings since the local daily has abandoned that responsibility.
How independent non-profits such as Florida Phoenix and Florida Trident are admirably filling the gap left by the decline of the state’s newspapers.
That’s also what we do here at Tropic Press, with original reporting and commentary, as well as sharing the great work of independent journalists around the state such as those I just mentioned.
But the news that the once-mighty Herald is enduring this humiliation is really tough to bear.
The news was also alarming in Washington this week, when our 80-year-old president declared that he’d had it with news outlets that insist on telling the truth about his conduct in office, declaring that CNN, Politico, and MS NOW will be banned from the White House.
Why?
He made no bones about it. He doesn’t like what he sees as “negative news,” which he calls FAKE NEWS (always in capital letters), fake because it fails to flatter him sufficiently.
Really, it’s a badge of honor to be banned, and it won’t stop the coverage of Trump’s criminal misbehavior and his flagrant disregard for the Constitution.
But in Trump’s mind, this is how he bends people to his will. He pressures and presses until he gets his way. And, sadly, he’s had some success at that, most recently his destruction of what once was one of the most storied news organizations in the United States, CBS.
Not to overstate the obvious, but our democracy will not survive without a free and independent press fulfilling its watchdog role over government.
Which is why this week’s news is so disheartening.
That Was the Week That Was
Dengue fever spreads and claims first victim
Florida, in the midst of an historic outbreak of dengue fever, has recorded its first fatality from the mosquito-borne disease.
The Florida Department of Health confirmed the death Friday, and the Tampa Bay Times said the victim was an elderly Tampa woman.
More than 130 locally acquired cases have been reported in Hillsborough County, which has seen the highest concentration of dengue fever cases this year — 130 — far above the handful typically seen.
“This is wildly unusual for us,” county spokesperson Chris Wilkerson told The Associated Press.
State health officials have reported 152 locally acquired dengue cases statewide so far, already the second-highest total on record. Nearly 200 cases were reported in 2023.
All we need is a strong and smart president
Will self-aware computers take over the world and destroy all of humanity like in the Terminator movies?
Some serious scientists are worried, one so much that he quit his job and went public with his concerns, setting off a flurry of debate over the future of AI. Into this confusion, Donald Trump offered this message:
“The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”
It is unknown to whom he was referring.
Pity the children
The Trump administration has started sending a majority of undocumented children who came to the US alone and have new immigration court cases to Texas, where government facilities for them are unlicensed, their chances of getting a lawyer are low, and advocates fear that “a deportation churn-out factory” awaits them, The Guardian reported.
Almost 80% of children in federal custody who arrived unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian and who were placed in immigration court proceedings in July – and over 90% in August – have been funneled into shelter networks somewhere in Texas, a dramatic upswing from the months prior, according to analysis shared exclusively with the Guardian from researchers at the immigration data insights platform bklg.org.
Meme of the Week
Quote of the Week
“There is really only one explanation for why they would cancel votes tomorrow and send us home early before the midterms, and that’s because they are afraid that the House of Representatives will vote to impeach Pete Hegseth.”
—Rep. Melanie Stansbury
Letters of the Week
Clearly the Republicans, nationally and in this state, are the party of big government. They want to control everyone one way or another, and extract more money from ordinary people in order to benefit the super-wealthy. Donalds is just like his boss, Trump: a constant liar.
—Lewis Pulsipher
The Donalds campaign has been lying and name-calling from day 1. If we elect him, we will deserve what we will get.
— Jeffrey R. Orenstein, Ph.D.
Looking Ahead
When I’m not writing this newsletter, I also scribble a current events column for Florida Weekly. You should check it out. Here are some snippets, from there and elsewhere, to help guide your week ahead. (Paid subscribers to this newsletter have full access to the complete Onward Thru the Fog archive.)
Sept. 21. International Peace Day. If only.
Sept. 22. Autumnal Equinox. This is the official start of fall, although the hours of daylight and night won’t be exactly the same unless you happen to live on the Equator. In Florida, that event, called the Equilux, takes place between Sept. 26 and 27 depending upon where you live in the state (the farther north, the later it arrives).
Sept. 23. Survivor’s 51st season premieres tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS. More than 40 contestants from Florida have been among the castaways during the show’s more than two decades of broadcasting. Casting locations in the state have included Tampa and Pompano Beach.
Sept. 24. In Florida, local Supervisor of Elections Offices should begin sending out vote-by-mail ballots starting today through Oct. 1. If you do not receive your ballot soon, contact your local Elections office. A directory of all offices can be found in the Tropic Press news2use section.
Sept. 25 is National Comic Book Day, which naturally raises the question: Who is the most powerful superhero in all of comicdom who doesn’t actually possess any supernatural abilities, you know, like Superman or Captain Marvel? The answer many would automatically give is Batman, maybe because Batman Day was Saturday. This is incorrect. The correct answer is the Green Lantern known as Hal Jordan. Opinions vary. A case could be made for Tony Stark.
Sept. 26 is Johnny Appleseed Day, celebrating the life of John Chapman, who was among the legions of Americans wandering westward after the Revolutionary War. He sold apple trees and seeds, and planted apple nurseries, hence his nickname. He never made it to Florida, but few did back then before the invention of air conditioning.
Oct. 5 is the deadline to register to vote in Florida for the Nov. 3 General Election.
Last Week’s Tropic Press headlines
In case you missed it, here are some of the stories that headlined Tropic Press this past week. Click on the headlines to read the stories.
BREAKING NEWS: Alligator Alcatraz violated federal standards for humane treatment of prisoners
Supreme Court slaps down Trump’s illegal scheme to disrupt mail-in voting
Florida’s candidates for governor debate the future of big AI data centers
BREAKING NEWS: House members told to go home to avoid Hegseth impeachment vote
House considers impeachments of Trump and Hegseth -- one down, one to go
News2Use
Check out the latest section on the Tropic Press website, News2Use, a handy reference library with links to useful information such as election deadlines, how to contact your elected representatives, and more. It’s a construction project, and we’re adding to it on a regular basis.
Thanks for your support
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Please share and help us make Florida — and America — better for all of us.
Thanks.
J.C. Bruce
A free press is vital to democracy. As ours is being fettered, the deliberate dismantling of our democracy by the Trump administration and his allies is going unreported. Thankfully, the new independent press you cite and participate in is making up for part of the information void but a lot more is needed if our democracy is to survive.
What a way to start the day! Coffee, a purring cat, and anguish.
It gets harder and harder to turn that anguish from flight to fight.
However, I will push myself to make a positive dent in the growing ugliness.