Peter Schorsch
POLITICO is about to go pro in Florida.
The popular online news source, publisher of Florida Playbook email digest from reporter Marc Caputo, is closer to launching POLITICO Pro Florida, a Sunshine State version of its professional service.
An email obtained by Florida Politics provides new details on POLITICO Pro Florida, set to go live August 3.
Founded in 2011, POLITICO Pro is a subscription-based real-time news outlet, which provides detailed coverage of Washington D.C. and beyond. Capitol Hill staffers, lobbyists, and other professionals rely on Pro for the most up-to-date policy news on technology, energy, healthcare, transportation and more.
With a full launch in mid-August, Pro Florida will take the same winning formula of its Washington service to the state level, through a roster of reporters including Caputo, Matt Dixon, Christine Sexton (formerly of Florida Politics) and Jessica Bakeman.
According to the email, next month’s soft launch of POLITICO Pro Florida will give a select number of Florida-based early adopters individual log in credentials, which allow them to customize exactly the type of information that will arrive directly to email inboxes.
“POLITICO Florida, an in-depth news and insight source dedicated to Florida politics and policy, will be a must-have resource for anyone interested in or affected by Florida government,” says the one-sheet promo. “As part of this subscription service users will receive daily updates and roundups on the topics they choose, in the format they want – delivered directly to their inbox.
Annual access to POLITICO Pro Florida is an eye-opening $16,000 for up to 10 users, with the email offering a pre-launch rate (prior to July 31) of $12,000. Rates nearly double for larger organizations, those with up to 20 users.
According to POLITICO States Associate Caitlin O’Connell, users can customize the content they receive by selecting specific topic tags from a list of roughly 100 topics.
“Pricing does not start at $16K,” she said in an email. “It is all dependent on number of users.”
Pricing options are open for discussion during the upcoming demos of the service, O’Connell added.
But what political operatives and lobbyists get in return is some of the best “inside baseball” money can buy.
As a tailored premium news service, Pro Florida offers exclusive insight on a broad range of Florida-centric issues. The email listed specialized coverage: presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio; Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature; U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson; Common Core; campaign finance; health care and tourism, renewable energy, land use and more. Pro will also feature regional news for Miami, Jacksonville, the Space Coast and Tampa-St. Petersburg.
The audience for POLITICO Pro, according to its promotional material, include government affairs professionals; lobbyists; public relations specialists; communications specialists; analysts; consultants; campaign professionals; policy experts; researchers; attorneys and association professionals.
In the case of lobbyists, one of the Pro’s primary target audiences, they will have the opportunity to be first-in-the-know on issues that matter most to clients.
Pro users also get a several premiums: early editions of morning newsletters, customized news alerts, access to in-depth calendars, exclusive Pro events and more.
If good things don’t come cheap, then POLITICO Pro Florida — which definitely has a hefty price tag — has the makings of a pretty good thing.
