Only one media outlet, on a non-pool basis, was allowed to cover a dinner Republican lawmakers had with Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday evening at the Governor’s Mansion, and those who attended claimed “no policy was discussed”, Florida’s Sunshine Laws were preserved.
The meeting at the Mansion wasn’t required by law to be open to the media, though the governor’s office had offered earlier in the week to provide a pool report by a selected reported, but insisted on choosing the reporter.
The Tallahassee press corps declined that offer, wanting instead to either choose itself which reporter would go, or have some sort of neutral selection of a reporter.
In the end, the Sunshine State News, on a non-pool basis, covered the dinner.
Those attending, Reps. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, Chris Dorworth, R-Heathrow, and Carlos Lopez Cantera, R-Miami, exited after two hours to talk to four reporters awaiting them outside the gated mansion.
Florida’s Sunshine Laws were preserved, they claimed, because, “no policy was discussed,” Lopez Cantera said. He said the topics included Scott’s campaign and television debate with Alex Sink.
Four reporters from other outlets waited outside during the dinner.
Scott did not speak to the media.
The News Service of Florida
