President Julie Pedretti welcomed everyone to the Press Club of Southwest Florida’s annual meeting and newsmaker’s program Dec. 10 at Great Wolf Lodge in Naples and called the meeting to order at 11:57 a.m. In reminding the group that the mission of the club is to “advocate for quality journalism in all its forms,” as well as to advocate for a free press and sunshine laws, Pedretti underscored the importance of journalists in “advancing the values of a free society,” as well as the public’s right to know.
Election of Officers and Board Members
Club members approved the slate of nominees for the 2025 Board of Governors submitted by Frank Cipolla (chair), Dayna Harpster (board member), and Linda Leatherbury (non-board member):
- Tom Doerr, President
- June Fletcher, Secretary
- Dave Maksymetz, Treasurer
- Karla Wheeler, Membership Chair and SCOOP Editor
- Connie Kindsvater, Scholarship Chair
- Phil Beuth, Governor-at-Large
- Jill Jaffe, Governor-at-Large
- Tom Marquardt, Governor-at-Large
- Julie Pedretti, Governor-at-Large
- Rob David, Governor-at-Large
Those with unexpired terms continuing to serve on the board through 2025 are:
- Rhona Saunders, Press Club Co-Founder and Governor-for-Life
- Frank Cipolla, Governor-at-Large
- Dayna Harpster, Governor-at-Large
- George Lehner, Governor-at-Large
- Jeff Margolis, Governor-at-Large
- Sandra Rios, Governor-at-Large
Pedretti thanked board members who are rolling off the board for their service to the club. They include:
- Bob Orr
- Wendy Fullerton Powell
- Gregg Ramshaw
Appreciation
Pedretti asked for a moment of silence to remember and honor club members lost this year: Phil Jones and Phil Jason. She introduced new member Michael Hirsh, and scholarship recipient Emma Rodriguez, a student at FGCU. She also thanked Catherine Bergerson, Sandra Rios and Karla Wheeler for their work in setting up and promoting the annual meeting.
Board member Tom Marquardt then presented Pedretti with a desk plaque and gift certificate from fellow board members in appreciation of her many years of service as president of the club.
Incoming President: Challenges for Journalists
Incoming President Tom Doerr, former news director for WINK, remarked that “quality journalism is in a terrible place,” noting that politicians, both local and national, are using rhetoric aimed at intimidating journalists, and are even threatening them with jail.
Meanwhile, state politicians have approved roughly 1,200 exemptions to Florida’s open records and sunshine laws, making information inaccessible. Shrinking budgets, fewer resources and lack of support from media owners and shareholders are also forcing journalists to leave the profession, and discouraging young people from entering it, Doerr pointed out.
The role of the club, he said, is to listen to the obstacles facing local journalists, and to “stand up for the principles essential to a healthy democracy.”
Tim Aten: Cultivating Sources and Readers
After a lunch of salad, five-cheese ravioli and chocolate cake, members heard from guest speaker Tim Aten, managing editor of Gulfshore Business magazine and longtime local real estate columnist.
Aten shared his tips for cultivating trusted sources and “putting up antennae” for gathering information that answers readers’ questions about upcoming development and redevelopments in SWFL.
“In Collier County, they don’t put up a sign saying ‘coming soon,’” he observed. So, as well as traditional means like public information officers, he relies on shoe leather sleuthing, as well as clues on social media. “You have to be immersed in the community,” he noted.
He said it’s important for younger journalists not to look at community reporting as just a stepping stone to a larger market, and to understand how much people care about changes to where they live.
He added that Naples is a good place to practice journalism, as it is growing quickly, especially in the eastern half of the county, where most of the development will take place in the coming years—and where half of the population will eventually live.
Journalists can pursue stories about how that will change the dynamics of the area, he said. Residents in the newly developed areas “will be the decision makers.”
Next Meeting
Pedretti said the club’s next luncheon meeting is Friday, Jan. 10, at Vi at Bentley Village. Pam Fultz has lined up a program featuring former Ohio Congressman and U.S. Ambassador for Hunger Tony Hall, who Congress invited to go on a peace mission to Ukraine last July. More media mixers in Fort Myers are also planned.
Dues
Pedretti reminded members that memberships should be renewed before the end of January. Dues are $75 a year, or $30 for those under 30. Payment option details will be emailed to members.
Tour of Great Wolf Lodge
Following the meeting, members were given a tour of the Lodge and its water park by General Manager Jason Bays.
The $275 million resort, funded by investments from the Blackstone and Centerbridge Partners investment firms, features 500 rooms and employs 675 people—for which the resort received 4,000 applications, according to Bays.
An indoor “Adventure Park” provides a virtual jungle of rope bridges, towers and slides for children.
The crowning jewel, however, is the 93,000-square foot indoor water park featuring slides, pipes, flumes and an attraction called “Breakaway Bay” that spins rafters around before sending them down a pipe into an outdoor pool—the sensation, said Bays, of being flushed down a toilet!
Beyond the resort attractions, the Lodge features 75,000 square feet of conference space in three ballrooms, a major contribution in a geographical area with limited meeting venues.
June Fletcher and David Silverberg are retired journalists who spent most of their journalistic careers in the Washington, D.C., area. Fletcher is a former reporter for The Wall Street Journal and The Naples Daily News. Silverberg is a former reporter and editor for numerous defense and homeland security publications, as well as the former managing editor of The Hill.
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