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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Opera Naples new Executive Director Laura Burns’ first day on the job came less than a week after storm surge from Hurricane Ian caused significant damage to the Wang Opera Center. We’ll talk with Burns about ongoing hurricane recovery efforts, get a preview of Opera Naples productions this performance season, and learn about Burns’ life-long passion for the arts and background as an arts administrator and advocate. -
As theaters in Southwest Florida enter a new season in the wake of Hurricane Ian, the performing arts community has more attendance challenges ahead after two years of struggling through the pandemic, local theaters say. -
On the morning after Hurricane Ian swept through southwest Florida a team of more than 50 people working for, or with, the Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers went door-to-door to conduct resident wellness checks and document damage at the more than 1,400 public and subsidized units and 2,400 housing voucher residences it administers. We check in with the Housing Authority's Executive Director, Marcia Davis, to hear about the work they’ve done and what’s left to be done. -
Musicians and long-time Fort Myers Beach residents Laurie and Steven Martin are among those who lost almost everything due to Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic devastation. Despite their harrowing ordeal riding out the storm in their home, they composed and recorded a moving song meant to encompasses the uplifting determination of the community. -
As public schools in Lee County begin reopening this week for the first time since Hurricane Ian, the district’s counseling and mental health services teams are working to help students and staff reintegrate. -
We explore how local arts organizations have been impacted by Hurricane Ian and how they’re working to help the community recover in a conversation with Laboratory Theater of Florida Production Manager Margaret Cooley, Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center President and CEO Jim Griffith, Florida Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen, and Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre owner and Executive Producer Will Prather. -
Collier County Commissioners held a town hall Tuesday night with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). For nearly three hours, residents asked questions and expressed their frustrations as they seek help recovering from Hurricane Ian’s catastrophic damage. -
Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno addressed Pine Island residents' concerns for their safety following catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Ian. -
Federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Ian-impacted counties opens door for FEMA financial assistance. Here's details on what FEMA will cover, what it doesn't cover, and how to apply. -
As Florida braces for impacts from Hurricane Ian, storm and disaster experts urge people to follow evacuation orders when given, and to expect storm impacts well beyond the center of the storm. National Hurricane Center acting Director Jamie Rhome warned residents of Southwest Florida to stay vigilante because the size of Ian is forecast to expand rapidly as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico, meaning impacts will be felt well beyond the center of the storm.
