John Davis
Host, Reporter, Assistant News Directorjrdavis@wgcu.org
John Davis has been a Reporter/Producer for WGCU since 2007. For more than a decade he served as the local host for NPR’s Morning Edition. He currently serves as producer and host of WGCU’s radio talk program Gulf Coast Life Arts Edition with John Davis. Prior to joining WGCU, he worked at WDUQ-FM in Pittsburgh, PA (now WESA) covering local government and general assignments. John studied journalism at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Florida Gulf Coast University. His work has garnered awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and a first-place award and “Best in Show” from the Florida Associated Press for his investigative work in 2011. Davis helped lead news team coverage around the clock during Hurricane Irma in 2017, which won a National Edward R. Morrow Award. More recently, his election and political coverage has garnered awards from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists.
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The 13th annual Fort Myers Film Festival includes a screening of the short documentary “Warriors: The BERNIE MAC Disease,” about the famed comedian’s decades-long struggle with sarcoidosis. The film aims to raise awareness about the often-misdiagnosed disease. It was produced by Fort Myers resident Steve Hilfiker, whose own battle with cardiac sarcoidosis required a heart transplant. -
The inaugural Fringe Fort Myers runs June 1-4 at the Alliance for the Arts and Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. We’ll get a preview of the variety array of performance artists from all over the world who will be featured in a conversation with festival organizer Bill Taylor. -
The Fort Myers Film Festival returns for it’s 13th year May 17-21 and will include screenings of 79 international and independent films in five categories as well as a red-carpet gala, Q&As with filmmakers, a cosplay competition and a closing-night award ceremony. We’ll get a preview with film festival founder Eric Raddatz. We’ll also hear from director Sasha Levinson whose short film “Yachts on the Rocks” will have its world premiere at the festival, and Steve Hilficker who produced the short film “Warriors: The Bernie Mac Disease,” which will be featured. -
Florida’s annual legislative session ended May 5 with a record $117 billion budget. Republican supermajorities in both the House and Senate enabled lawmakers to push through much of Governor Ron DeSantis’ priority bills. Our panel of political scientists explore what passed, what didn’t’, and what it all means for Florida going forward. -
The Alliance for the Arts in Lee County is hosting a solo exhibition of works by Florida-based abstract painter Margaret Schnebly Hodge. Ahead of an opening reception, Friday May 5, we sit down with the artist to explore paintings in the exhibit, her inspirations and insights into her creative process. -
Florida Gulf Coast University Director of Jazz Studies and bass player Brandon Robertson will perform with his quartet at a concert this Saturday, May 6 at the Center for the Arts Bonita Springs. The concert will contribute to the future development of a jazz studies department at FGCU. -
Collier County Supervisor of Elections Jennifer Edwards retires mid-term on Friday, April 28 after more than 20 years on the job. -
Players Circle Theater in North Fort Myers closes the season with a production of the comedy, “The Foreigner.” We’ll talk with the lead actor in the show Dennis Delamar. After the show ends, Players Circle Theater will begin moving into the New Phoenix Theatre space along McGregor Blvd. We talk with Players Circle Theater co-founders Robert Cacioppo and Carrie Lund Cacioppo about an exciting change of venue for the theater company and what it will mean for theater-goers. -
Florida Repertory Theatre closes its 25th anniversary season with a production of Kenneth Lonergan’s dark comedy “Lobby Hero.” -
Theatre Conspiracy at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers is performing August Wilson’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama “the Piano Lesson,” marking the company’s fifth production of plays from Wilson’s American Century Cycle, which is a series of 10 plays thatexamine the Black experience in the U.S. throughout the 20th century.
