Peter Schorsch
The Florida newspapers that are part of the USA TODAY network are trumpeting their plan to offer expanded coverage of the 2017 Legislative Session.
“While some news organizations have pulled back resources from capital coverage,” a story in the Tallahassee Democrat reads, “the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida is investing in focused, in-depth reporting on the Legislature as it fashions laws and policies that will impact the lives of Floridians.”
The plan is for seven veteran reporters from the Democrat, Naples Daily News and the Treasure Coast Newspapers – Jeff Burlew, James Call, Bill Cotterell, Alexandra Glorioso, Isadora Rangel, Arek Sarkissian, and Jeff Schweers – to flood the zone’ during the Legislature’s annual lawmaking period.
“Seven journalists. One mission.” is the initiative’s mission statement.
As an occasional critic of the Democrat’s political coverage, I’m excited about this marshaling of resources. I’m particularly excited to read more from Sarkissian, who has this year turned out several must-read stories about the state’s budgeting process.
Of course this would not be blog post from me if I did not offer just a little snark…
If you’re gonna create a Justice League of political reporters to better cover the workings of the Florida Capitol, couldn’t the art team have come up with a logo that, you know, uses the Florida Capitol instead of the U.S. Capitol?
