Pete Weitzel, our Director Emeritus is a former managing editor of the Miami Herald, where he worked as a reporter and editor for nearly 40 years. When he was president of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors in 1984, he established the Florida First Amendment Foundation to serve as a government transparency watchdog and then served as Foundation president until 1995. In that role, he helped draft an amendment to the Florida Constitution guaranteeing citizens a right of access to government records and served on a Florida Supreme Court commission that modified state court rules on court records. He also helped launch the National Freedom of Information Coalition and served as its second president. Working with the American Society of News Editors, he helped launch the first Sunshine Week in 2005. In 1997, he was selected as one of the initial inductees in Florida’s Freedom of Information Hall of Fame. In 2007, he received the John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award from the National Press Club for his efforts in support of the public’s right to know. The National Freedom of Information Coalition inducted him into the State Open Government Hall of Fame in 2015.
TRIMMEL GOMES, CHAIR
President, GOMES MEDIA STRATEGIES
ED BIRK, VICE-CHAIR/GENERAL COUNSEL
Attorney, MARKS GRAY
FRANK DENTON, TREASURER
Retired Editor, FLORIDA TIMES UNION
JIM BALTZELLE
Director Local Media, Southeas, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DICK BATCHELOR
Founder & President, DICK BATCHELOR MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC.
PATRICIA BRIGHAM
President, PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE FLORIDA, Inc.
MIKE DEESON
President, DEESON MEDIA LLC
JIM FOGLER
President & CEO, FLORIDA PRESS ASSOCIATION AND INTERSECT MEDIA
Graham Brink
REPORTER, TAMPA BAY TIMES
TOM D. HALL
President, TLH CONSULTING GROUP LLC
CAROL JEAN LOCICERO
Attorney, THOMAS & LOCICERO
CAROL MARBIN MILLER
Deputy Investigations, THE MIAMI HERALD
SAMUEL J. MORLEY
General Counsel, FLORIDA PRESS ASSOCIATION
KATIE SANDERS
Managing Editor, POLITIFACT
BOB SHAW
Retired Editor, ORLANDO SENTINEL
PETE WEITZEL
Director Emeritus, FIRST AMENDMENT FOUNDATION
Staff
Bobby Block, Executive Director
Block has had a four-decade career in journalism, including contributing to the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of 9/11, which earned a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2002.
He co-authored the book “Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security,” and has reported on various conflicts across the globe, including Rwandan genocide in 1994, and the executions of more than 8,000 men and boys by Serbian f
orces in a Bosnian village in 1995.
Block will assume his leading role with the Florida First Amendment Foundation on Feb. 1. In a press release announcing his hire, the foundation points to a “callous disregard for the law” in the erosion of First Amendment rights in Florida.
“Never has the work of the Foundation been more essential than it is now at a time when reporters and citizens across Florida are being stonewalled and denied their right to access government information,” Block said in a statement. “Public records and Sunshine laws are being routinely disregarded across Florida with seemingly no fear of reprisals. This cannot be allowed to stand for the sake of our democracy.”
In addition to the Wall Street Journal, Block has also reported for the Tribune Company, Reuters and the Independent of London. He has also contributed to the New York Review of Books.
