A local desk for the Emerald Coast

What this is

Emerald Coast Connected reads the bodies that make decisions here and the outlets that cover them: the county, the cities, their boards and commissions, the sheriff, the school district, the utilities, and the newspapers and stations that report on all of it. Every hour, it collects what they have published and turns it into a short briefing you can read in a few seconds.

Every story on the news page carries a link to everyone who reported it. Where something came straight from the body that did the thing -- a city posting its own agenda, a sheriff's office publishing its own release -- it is marked Direct from the source. That distinction is the point: it tells you whether you are reading the institution or someone's account of it.

What we report ourselves

Most of what you read here is a briefing of someone else's reporting, written in our own words with a link to the publisher who did the work. We do not reproduce anyone else's article.

We are also starting to do our own reporting, beginning with the stories no one else is covering closely: local sports, public safety and the record of who we have lost. When a story is ours, it says so. When it came from another outlet, it links to them. Either way, you will always know whose work you are reading.

Support local news

Local reporting is expensive to do and easy to lose. When a briefing here sends you to a local outlet, read them, subscribe to them, and support them. The more people doing this work, the less of what you know about your own community depends on an algorithm deciding what you see. We believe a rising tide lifts all boats.

The conditions

Weather and beach conditions come from the National Weather Service, NOAA, NASA and the EPA -- the same public sources the professionals read. Every panel says where its reading came from and when it was taken, and when something cannot be reached the page says so rather than leaving a blank that reads as a calm day.

Who is behind it

Emerald Coast Connected is independent and locally run, out of Fort Walton Beach. It is not owned by a chain, a group, or an investor.

Corrections, and getting in touch

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it. If a story about you or your organisation should not be here, say so and it comes down while we look at it. Either way, write to info@emeraldcoastconnected.com, or use the contact page.