Last year, when then-Gov. Rick Scott called two state of emergencies, one for red tide in the gulf and another for blue-green algae contamination in the Caloosahatchee watershed, many looked to the Florida Department of Health for guidance. The department disappointed some however, when it couldn’t provide specific answers to their many questions.
Amy Bennett Williams is an environmental reporter from The News-Press. Her recent article “Emails show Florida DOH struggled to manage toxic algae crisis,” provides evidence from the 2,500 emails obtained by the paper that reveal why the department could only provide generalized answers. Williams is the Field Notes column writer for the Tropicalia magazine, and she is an essayist for WGCU. She joins us in the studio to discuss the reporting process for the story.
