'Intimidation won't' work: Newspaper tells Ron DeSantis he will not 'bully' their newsroom

09 June

Mediaite reports The Orlando Sentinel editorial board is swinging back at intimidation attempts from Gov. Ron DeSantis over their coverage of the ongoing Hope Florida scandal.

Funded by a settlement agreement with Centene, Hope Florida is a state-created charity program purporting to be helping connect private nonprofits and faith-based organizations with individuals needing assistance. Critics say the charity more directly gives a platform for DeSantis’ wife, Casey DeSantis, to launch a political campaign to replace her term-limited husband as governor. But after numerous reports, the program is now being called out by Florida Republicans, who are demanding investigations. Some are even accusing the governor and staff of criminal activity, with a criminal investigation launched last month.

In addition to allegations of unethical or illegal money transfers to contractors, The Orlando Sentinel is questioning Hope Florida’s claims of success. Sentinel Capital bureau reporter Jeffrey Schweers reported on May 19 that Hope Florida touts “success stories” in promotional materials but “provided few specifics to support its claims of impact.” Schweers interviewed Hope Florida client Celia Franjul, who was featured in the organization’s magazine with a “softly-lit photo of two children hugging a woman” that was not actually a photo of her or her children.

Her story appeared as real as her photo, according to Schweers. Three years after becoming a Hope Florida client, Franjul, 42, appears to be no better off than before. Franjul is still unemployed and she and her children are still on Medicaid, just as they were three years ago. Another Schweers report reveals a woman who’d appeared in a Hope Florida promotional video had received $588 from the organization a few days before the video posted.

Gov. DeSantis ordered the Sentinel off the Hope Florida beat on June 6 with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) sending an unsigned cease and desist letter to the Sentinel, Schweers, and newspaper executive editor Roger Simmons.

The letter accused the paper of threatening families with accusations of fraudulent activity in exchange for information. “Cease and desist the above-described intimidation of these families,” DCF ordered.

The Sentinel refused this month, and its editorial board expanded on their refusal in a Monday op-ed headlined “Intimidation won’t make the Sentinel back down on Hope Florida story.”

“This attempt to bully our newsroom away from a story is clearly intended to be chilling, but it won’t impact our reporting,” the board said. “Hope Florida has already had a lot of questions raised about its funding and grants not just by the Sentinel and other media in Florida but also by state lawmakers.”

Mediaite reports Mike Lafferty, the now-retired former opinion editor at the Sentinel, posted on his Facebook page that the state government was “using its powers to try and chill free speech” and cheered Simmons for “telling them to sod off.”

Read the full report at the Mediaite link here.

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