Florence Snyder, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Florence SnyderNovember 15, 2016

Death really does come in threes. This week, people who care about journalism are mourning the loss of Paul Hogan, Gwen Ifill, and J.T. Rushing. Hogan was one of our last links with an era when a kid could volunteer at the Marietta (Georgia) Daily Journal, bypass college, and rise to become the editor of […]

Florence SnyderNovember 15, 2016

Most of us learned in Sunday School that an insincere apology is worse than no apology at all, yet people keep issuing them, anyway. Case in point: John Browning, member of the Florida Transportation Commission, St. Johns River Water Management District board member, and person who never met a Muslim he didn’t think was packing […]

Florence SnyderNovember 14, 2016

Now that Attorney General and former Tampa Bay-area prosecutor Pam Bondi is among President-elect Donald Trump’s Legal Influencers, this is an excellent time to talk about FACES. That’s the Department of Acronyms name for the Face Analysis Comparison Examination System, a statewide “facial recognition database” created over a decade ago by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s […]

Florence SnyderNovember 12, 2016

Uber-real estate developer and all-’round power broker Armando Codina once threatened to punch the aggressive and highly decorated investigative reporter Dan Christensen in the face. Today, Codina is among a growing number of donors to Florida Bulldog, the investigative reporting website Christensen founded in 2009, when he became one of the casualties of one of the Miami Herald’s newsroom […]

Florence SnyderNovember 11, 2016

The bad news is that a variety of bedbug not seen in Florida in 60 years is back. The good news is the University of Florida is on the case. Like its cousin the “common bedbug,” the tropical bed bug under investigation by UF researchers will drain your blood — and your bank account. The […]

Florence SnyderNovember 9, 2016

It’s Morning After in America, and the recriminations are well underway. Even with a crappy crystal ball like Larry Sabato‘s, you can predict the Democrats will assemble an Autopsy Committee like the one the Republicans did in 2012. Old habits die hard. Bleary-eyed pundits, pollsters, pols, and political reporters are crying into their beers and […]

Florence SnyderNovember 8, 2016

Grumpy and possibly jealous old men — some with newspaper columns — disapproved of Saturday’s comedy debut of Anthony Rizzo, Dexter Fowler, and Tallahassee homeboy David Ross. Fresh off their World Series win, the trio swung by Saturday Night Live to sing “Go Cubs Go” with superfan and trained professional comedian Bill Murray, and to bump and grind with Benedict Cumberbatch in a […]

Florence SnyderNovember 7, 2016

Newspapers were rolling in dough in the late 20th century. Reporters had expense accounts and plenty of public officials were happy to let them pick up the check. Not Janet Reno. She paid her own way, spoke for herself, and did not require those around her to bow, scrape, or screen calls to her home […]

Florence SnyderNovember 7, 2016

AT&T, the communications conglomerate which owns Direct TV, was hauled into the court of public opinion Friday, charged with censorship for pulling the plug on Fox News. Irate customers of the satellite television subscriber service took to the internet to voice their suspicions, tar and feathers at the ready. They did not for one New […]

Florence SnyderNovember 3, 2016

Library patrons in North Tallahassee are competing this week for parking spaces with throngs of early voters. Signs in the makeshift precinct warn partisans and press people where, exactly, the “solicitation boundary” lies. For Florida First Amendment junkies, the signs are a melancholy hat tip to attorney Steve Carta, who died of cancer in September. The longtime […]

Florence Snyder
Image via AP.

Florence Snyder: Hogan, Ifill and Rushing, rest in peace …

Postcard from the ‘sorry-not sorry’ apology files

Florence Snyder: Is your mug shot in FACES virtual lineup?

Florida Bulldog, tenacious watcher of the watchmen, celebrates its seventh anniversary

Florence Snyder: On Veterans Day, a valentine to UF’s bug-busters

Postcard from the center, which didn’t hold

On Election Day, let’s talk baseball …

In remembrance: Janet Reno

Censorship and ‘censorship’

In memory of Steve Carta, reporter’s lawyer