< Politicians say this Florida news site lets them buy coverage. Is your state next?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

One of the basic rules of journalism is that you report the news without fear or favor. You don't favor your friends. You don't favor your advertisers. People who follow politics in Florida know of a must-read news site whose publisher says he does not play by those rules. The news site is called Florida Politics, and on that site, it can be hard to tell the difference between what's news and what's advertising. NPR's David Folkenflik has the story.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Peter Schorsch has built up a near mythic stature in state political circles.

EUNIC EPSTEIN-ORTIZ: He will determine whether or not something is news in the state of Florida.

FOLKENFLIK: Eunic Epstein-Ortiz is a progressive communications consultant based in Tampa. In 2018, Epstein-Ortiz was helping to run a major union's voter outreach efforts. She says Schorsch asked the union to take out ads on his sites about it, and when she refused, Florida Politics' coverage of the union's efforts stopped.

EPSTEIN-ORTIZ: He's only covering the story if you've written a check.

FOLKENFLIK: Last year, Epstein-Ortiz ran for the state Senate herself. She concluded that coverage in the site Florida Politics was a necessity, not a luxury. Consultants told her there was one way to ensure that would happen.

EPSTEIN-ORTIZ: We made the decision to purchase an ad package, and everything changed almost overnight.

FOLKENFLIK: Florida Politics' headlines about her included "Eunic Ortiz Vows To Stand Up To Corporations" and "Eunic Ortiz Garners Endorsements From 11 State Lawmakers." She now calls that pay for play. Schorsch rejects that label viscerally and says whether she paid didn't affect his coverage.

PETER SCHORSCH: She blamed me for her loss. It - that election didn't have anything to do with me.

FOLKENFLIK: Even so, we heard the same story from politicians running the gamut, from liberal Democrats to Republicans who favor former President Donald Trump or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Consultants, corporate interests and lobbyists take out those ads too. Those who neglect to do so might suffer in Florida Politics, either from negative coverage or none at all. Pay up, and the posts often read like lyrical press releases.

SCHORSCH: I am sympathetic to the idea that I play favorites. I absolutely play favorites.

FOLKENFLIK: Just to be clear, this isn't the way things are supposed to be done. Journalists deliver the news and are supposed to exercise independent judgment. Schorsch disavows such responsibilities.

SCHORSCH: I don't think I've ever held myself up as a journalist. I've said that I'm a publisher, that I publish the work of other journalists.

FOLKENFLIK: Often its articles are directly influenced by who's paying, but how can you tell which ones? A story without a byline deflects blame from the sugar industry for water pollution, or Schorsch's own columns reflecting the civic spirit of a Tampa power company that advertises. Schorsch says a family friend is the new top lobbyist there but just shrugs it all off.

SCHORSCH: I think that there are still gray areas that I get into. I still have very strong strategic business relationships with people that opens doors, provides revenue.

FOLKENFLIK: In one recent appeal to politicians, consultants and campaigns that we reviewed for this story, Schorsch offered a $5,000 package that included ads and native content about key endorsements and fundraising. Native content is effectively an ad that looks like an independently reported piece. Most news organizations have ethics codes requiring clear-cut labels placed on native content. Can't find that anywhere on Schorsch's site.

NEIL BROWN: I think that's a problem. I think that's flawed. I think that's not journalism, but it is masking itself as journalism.

FOLKENFLIK: Neil Brown is head of the Poynter Institute. That's a nonprofit journalism center in St. Petersburg. Brown was the editor-in-chief of the Tampa Bay Times when it investigated Schorsch a decade ago over related concerns.

BROWN: That is problematic for democracy. It's problematic for journalism. It doesn't mean that the information is necessarily bad or false, but own up where it comes from so that people have a right to decide for themselves.

FOLKENFLIK: Schorsch says conventional news outlets are moving more toward his approach. He jokes he's running a halfway house for former newspaper reporters because he can afford to pay the bills.

SCHORSCH: We're one of the last media outlets that's devoted to full-time coverage of the Florida political process, especially the legislative and governing process.

FOLKENFLIK: At a time many news organizations are cutting back, Schorsch's ambitions have expanded to nine other states. Last year, he launched the regional news site Southeast Politics.

David Folkenflik, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: For the record, David reported this story independent of any advertiser and in collaboration with Miranda Green of the nonprofit newsroom Floodlight.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.