Publisher of Our Tallahassee shuttering partisan media site for new venture
After more than a year in operation, the partisan media and electioneering site Our Tallahassee is closing up shop.
Unabashedly devoted to Tallahassee’s progressive candidates and an ardent critic of the Blueprint sales tax program, the website aimed to shape the 2022 elections through articles aimed at attacking select incumbents, city and county leadership and large-scale controversial development projects.
Publisher Bob Lotane said while Our Tallahassee is closing, a new product — a news digest format including analysis and opinion — will take its place.
He said the catalyst for the closure was the organization’s LLC filing pending expiration.
“I said, ‘Change is good,’ and decided to take the plunge,” Lotane wrote in a prepared statement.
He added he plans to relax a bit and do some traveling while working toward the launch of a new product, "yet to be named.”
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The working title for the new venture is “Tallahassee Politics: Analysis, Opinion, News,” and is likely to include “input from across the political spectrum.”
Staffed solely by political operative and former lobbyist Max Herrle, Our Tallahassee’s content often was a blurred line between electioneering, campaign attack ad and news.
At the same time he wrote for the site, Herrle worked behind the scenes supporting and working for local candidates as well as operating political committees that raised funds and bought ads.
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Lotane said Herrle, who previously advised the campaigns of city commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow, will continue consulting and is working toward a television product separate from Our Tallahassee.
Both commissioners denied any involvement with the website when it launched in summer 2021 as the federal public corruption trial into the dealings of former city commissioner Scott Maddox and hotelier J.T. Burnette ramped up.
Our Tallahassee often criticized Mayor John Dailey, other officials
The website touted its progressive agenda and obvious animus for the City Hall and Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency power structures. Its stories frequently heaped criticism on Mayor John Dailey, City Manager Reese Goad and Police Chief Lawrence Revell as well as the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce.
A top Our Tallahassee target was Dianne Williams-Cox, whose defeat could have shifted the balance of power in City Hall toward the progressives. But the commissioner, who beat Lotane himself in the 2018 election cycle, rose above the site's narrative and easily secured re-election in August. She bested challenger Adner Marcelin, whose campaign was the recipient of Herrle's advice and political committee funding.
Initially, the site launched in secrecy, not listing any staffers or bylines. But Lotane wrote a column introducing the website, its philosophy and other contributors including Herrle and author Jeff Vandermeer, who later parted ways with Our Tallahassee but continued to promote it.
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The website was the first of a handful that looked to spin Tallahassee's political scene and offer sharable headlines in support of candidates and their agendas.
This summer, Our Tallahassee and Grow Tallahassee were joined by 4TLH, which is published by former County Commissioner Bryan Desloge and former Florida State University vice president Lee Hinkle and supports establishment candidates.
Lotane said he has met with designers and developers for his new venture but said there is no timetable for it to launch. He hailed the work of Our Tallahassee over the past year.
“We weren’t sure if we would last six days or six weeks, and we’ve lasted well over a year,” said Lotane of the site, which also solicited donations from the community. “We have broken numerous stories, held public and elected officials up to scrutiny and added to the lively political debate in a very political city.”
Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Our Tallahassee political website closes its doors, publisher says
