Rick Mayer
Digital ProducerI’m the online producer for Health News Florida, a collaboration of public radio stations and NPR that delivers news about health care issues.
This is an important position at WUSF. In 2019, the typical U.S. family spent about 11 percent of its annual income on health care, so it stands to reason issues of cost, quality, access and innovation are consequential to all Floridians. Then COVID-19 came along, and the weight of these matters gained exponentially. I take our reporting on these topics quite seriously, as I’m sure you do, too.
Literally growing up in newsrooms and a little serendipity along the way prepared me well for the post. Here’s the abridged version: I’m a Tampa guy, graduating from H.B. Plant High and thrust into the world with my USF degree rolled tightly in hand. From there, it was three mostly sleepless decades as an editor at The Tampa Tribune, then developing and managing an online journal serving physician executives. There’s also my side job editing a statewide health magazine.
And being married to a longtime hospital nurse/case manager helps; dinner conversation often gives me a feel of what’s happening on the front lines. The good and not-so-good.
Of course, my time isn’t always spent flailing in the health news vortex. You’re actually more likely to find me breaking down the Bucs, Bulls or Bolts after a game, taking Oodle the poodle to the dog park or tinkering the backroom piano while vicariously reliving my former life as a musician. (Remember, kids: Parents of percussionists have plenty of patience. Plenty!)
Contact Rick on Twitter @rmayer2361 or by email at Mayer1@wusf.org.
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Sun-Ray Cinema, known for its unique film selections and atmosphere, opened in 1927 and was the first Florida theater to show "talkies." The theater's lease was not renewed by its building's new owners. -
About 80,000 attendees are expected around the Tampa Convention Center for the creative competition of flying machines. City officials have transportation warnings and suggestions. -
Jeff Vinik says new owners Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz will maintain the team's winning legacy for "generations." Vinik will still run the show for three years and remain an active minority owner after that. -
With St. Petersburg just beginning the assessment of the hurricane-ravaged Tropicana Field, Rob Manfred is "hopeful" the team can play in the home market until the new stadium is built. -
The ready-to-eat meals, processed at an Oklahoma plant operated by BrucePac, went out to more than 200 schools, including nine in Florida. -
In a sharply worded order, a federal judge issues a temporary restraining order after a lawsuit was filed against the state by a group campaigning for the abortion-rights amendment proposal. -
The Bolts - players and families - were able to avoid the destructive storm and concentrate on preparing for Game 1 in Raleigh against the Hurricanes. Meantime, Saturday's game in Tampa was postponed. -
Pinellas deputies began the morning by restricting access at the county line until the area was declared safe. Crews were already working in other areas flattened by the powerful winds and surge. -
The 120-mph winds ripped the fabric roof to pieces at the Rays' stadium. Blocks away, a crane fell at a high-rise construction site. No injuries were reported. -
The forecast shows the storm making landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday near Tampa Bay. Meantime, Gov. Ron DeSantis assures evacuating residents that there is plenty of fuel available.
