FTF About

Fresh Take Florida is a news service producing top-caliber investigative and political content focusing on Florida’s state government, including the Legislature, and other issues of statewide, regional or national interest.

Stories are written by a student journalists under the direction of CJC faculty and staff. Students are hand-selected each semester through an application process and generally are college seniors or juniors.

In-depth reporting is patterned after the “rapid-response investigations” model, which includes interviews, surveys of public records and analyzed data that is intended to be reported in days or weeks, not months. Stories, photos, video and audio packages, graphics, and data visualizations are distributed directly to Florida’s largest news organizations and more broadly under distribution agreements with The Associated Press, CNN, the Florida Public Radio Network, Gatehouse/Gannett, Tribune Media Company, McClatchy Co. and TEGNA.

Each semester, students travel regularly  to the state capital for interviews and to monitor legislation, committee hearings, floor votes and other action. They work on stories identified by faculty editors and ones they propose themselves from interviews with sources or reviews of government records.

Reporting for each story can take several days or several weeks, depending on the scope of the coverage and complexity of topic. Students also sometimes work in teams and all are encouraged to pursue multiple stories simultaneously. Although important work is done in the capital, significant reporting is required across Florida from interviews with citizens, organizations, companies and others who are directly affected by the Legislature’s activities.