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.
Send news pitches to wgcunews@wgcu.org
-
Myra Janco Daniels, who founded the Philharmonic Center for the Arts (now Artis-Naples) and the Naples Museum of Art (now the Baker Museum), died Wednesday, June 22, at the age of 96. -
Conversation and music performed live in-studio by the Florida phantom folk band the Swamp Rats consisting of Scotty Crow on vocals, guitar and cajón and Andy Starkey on vocals and banjo. -
For more than a decade researchers and growers have been exploring the potential efficacy and economic impact of developing a commercial-scale olive industry in Florida. In recent years, they’ve been making advances in identifying olive varieties that can thrive even in Florida’s warmer southern regions. We’ll explore the latest research findings with Florida Olive Council founder and President Michael O’Hara Garcia. -
We listen back to selections from our show from this past spring featuring jazz performed live in studio by musicians studying under the Florida Gulf Coast University Bower School of Music’s Director of Jazz Studies Brandon Robertson. Robertson and his students have performed on past editions of the show, but this episode marked the first time we heard his students performing vocal jazz selections. -
Governor Ron DeSantis announced the veto of controversial SB 2508, a Lake Okeechobee water supply bill that environmental advocates strongly opposed. -
The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season is well-underway, with southwest Florida’s recent brush with Tropical Storm Alex, which was the first named storm of the season. Alex caused significant flooding in parts of Florida and killed three people in Cuba. The storm serves as a reminder that even though the peak of hurricane season typically doesn’t arrive until September, severe weather can come at any time throughout the six month hurricane season and that now is the time to prepare. We talk with the director of Lee County Emergency Management's Department of Public Safety to get some tips on what residents should do to be ready. -
We explore the Ghostbird Theatre Company’s performance/installation hybrid, “One Island,” ahead of its opening at the Wasmer Art Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University. -
Tuesday’s mass shooting at an elementary school in Texas and the mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York less than two weeks ago have reignited efforts among Florida Democratic lawmakers to push for tougher firearm laws in the sunshine state. We hear from representatives of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Prevent Gun Violence Florida, Inc., about the current status of gun regulations in Florida and stalled efforts at the federal level to impose stricter background check requirements for gun purchases. -
Amid an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in recent weeks, predictions of a surge in new infections across the South and the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, Southwest Florida hospital officials are raising awareness about taking precautions and getting vaccinated. -
Governor Ron DeSantis was in Cape Coral, Monday, lauding the new $100 million Florida Hometown Heroes Program aimed at helping Floridians in essential jobs purchase a first home.
