Enjoy the show: Sparks fly between Florida conservative press members

All is not well in the world of Florida conservative media.

In the race to offer the most unconditionally flattering coverage of Gov. Ron DeSantis, outlets have run into some challenges, including each other.

At a time when proving conservative bona fides means fighting any shadow one can swing a fist at, the fringiest of Florida media have taken up feuding. And it’s not at all clear there’s any prize waiting for the victor.

Things reached a boiling point this month when Florida’s Voice, an outfit run by Jan. 6 insurrectionist Brendon Leslie, published private Twitter messages from Javier Manjarres, a failed congressional candidate and publisher of the Floridian Press. “Why have you been in my dms for months begging me to retweet your reports?”

“Pathetic,” Manjarres responded. “Just proves how lame you all are. We will keep all DM’s and private text private. And all private conversations. Good luck.”

Leslie apparently posted about Manjarres getting up in his DMs because the Shark Tank publisher beat Leslie on publishing a story regarding a controversial tweet from Karla Hernández, Charlie Crist’s running mate. It’s the one that said many Cuban nationals had mourned for Fidel Castro.

“Dude, what’s up with the journalistic integrity at @FLVoiceNews. @Floridianpress first reported this today and (no) attribution from FL Voice? C’mon @BrendonLeslie you guys are better than this. This is what Schorsch does.”

Yes, that’s right. Apparently Florida Politics lives rent-free in the minds of Florida’s right-wing media machine, but that’s a whole different story. (For what it’s worth, we are pretty serious about crediting scoops around here.)

What’s fascinating is how these niche sites have decided to go after one another for the title of top conservative sycophant.

Apparently, Leslie has also made enemies with one soon-to-be-former state lawmaker who happens to be the darling of far-right Twitter. Anthony Sabatini, who this week called for “serious conservative news outlets” to start covering Florida, took aim at Florida’s Voice.

“Beware of Fake News propaganda site @FLVoiceNews,” Sabatini tweeted. “They get paid to cover for guys like RINO @WiltonSimpson.”

From there, Sabatini went after the Republican nominee for Agriculture Commissioner for his role in crafting the Parkland gun safety bill, not allowing a heartbeat bill to move in the Senate and, just to make clear racism flows through Sabatini’s Blackface-blotted heart, for supporting a resolution condemning White supremacy.

After the Simpson aside, Sabatini quickly turned his attention back to the media ecosystem in the Sunshine State.

“What we really need right now are serious conservative news outlets that hold our Republican officials accountable on votes & other actions,” Sabatini posted. “Such outlets are RARE. Why? Because most succumb to the desire for ‘access.’ It’s hard holding folks accountable — most lack the gut for it.”

There’s no denying, though, that Sabatini has reach on social media, with 127,000 followers. That’s more than Leslie and far more than Florida’s Voice.

We can only guess that Manjarres doesn’t sit in good standing with Sabatini either after the Floridian Press roasted him as Florida’s Biggest Loser for losing a GOP Primary to Cory Mills.

That just adds some extra roast to this dumpster fire.

Of course, the whole push for access does seem to be a motivating factor. How else to explain the embarrassing, fawning coverage provided when these fringe outlets receive sit-down interviews with DeSantis, clearly the most prominent Republican in Florida right now. The right-wing sucklefest did win all of these outlets an invite this year to a big Republican party, the Sunshine Summit in Hollywood, where many mainstream outlets weren’t allowed in.

But it’s not like the pettiness recently on display among Florida’s zaniest red meat outlets has earned them significant access to the Governor. Rather, the press shop in Tallahassee seems to favor, at the moment, the Florida Standard.

That’s where staff announcements and appointments seem to land before press releases blast out to the major media. That’s where communications staff occasionally retweet and take up the questionable legal premises of stories, like the recent assertion by the Standard that a vaccine passport ban would force television stations to host debates for un-vaxxed candidates.

But then, who wants to stop these outlets from burning each other, and their own credibility, to the ground? It may not bring anything positive to these publishers, but the self-immolation does make for a good show.