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WUSF's Wake Up Call

Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

Community News Collaborative

Four people stand outside for a group photo. — The Community News Collaborative consists of reporters Sarah Owens, left, Catherine Hicks and Jim DeLa. Editor Eric Garwood, center, leads the team.

Community News Collaborative

The CNC produces journalism on a variety of topics in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties for about a dozen media partners including newspapers, radio and television stations and magazines.

Local / State

WUSF partnering with foundation to launch a multi-newsroom collaboration to cover the Gulf Coast

Mary Shedden

Through a donation from the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, the Community News Collaborative will operate as a separate newsroom that will cover topics including the environment and communities underserved by traditional media.

About The CNC

The four-member Community News Collaborative team produces journalism on a variety of topics in Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties for about a dozen media partners including newspapers, radio and television stations and magazines. Launched in 2022 with funding provided by the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, the CNC operates in conjunction with WUSF Public Media to provide an additional level of community news coverage in the region at a time when many newsroom staffs are shrinking.

Meet The Staff

Executive Editor Eric Garwood most recently served as managing editor of the Observer Media Group’s news operations in Sarasota-Siesta Key and Longboat Key. Garwood, 60, has been a reporter, page designer, editor and newsroom leader for 39 years at newspapers in Florida and North Carolina. If you have story ideas for the news team, reach out to Eric at ericgarwood@cncfl.org.

Sarah Owens is a graduate of Milligan University, where she played intercollegiate soccer before joining the staff of the Johnson City Press in Tennessee as a reporter. She has focused on issues of social justice, cultural practices, mental health and criminal justice. Owens was the editor in chief of her campus newspaper and is a native of Alabaster, Alabama. Sarah can be reached at slowens@cncfl.org

Catherine Hicks is a graduate of University of South Florida where she is also finishing a Masters degree in digital journalism. She served as a digital producer for Fox 21 TV in Denver, Colorado, while also running a freelance reporting and copy writing business. She is a native of Pinellas County and served as a graduate teaching assistant at USF. Hicks is particularly interested in issues of mental health and the environment. She can be reached at chicks@cncfl.org

Jim DeLa is a veteran of the news business, serving in a variety of roles over four decades. He’s worked in television, newspapers and radio while reporting, editing and supervising teams of journalists. He was the night metro editor of the Bradenton Herald, worked in university offices of communications and was director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida. In his spare time, DeLa is a baseball and softball umpire. He most recently served as a digital producer at WWSB-TV in Sarasota. Jim can be reached at jdela@cncfl.org

Community News Collaborative

Community News Collaborative

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