Issue No.148 · Monday, April 20Reading today · 3 min 42 secCovering Fort Pierce · Port St. Lucie · Tradition · Hutchinson IslandFree forever →
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Est. 2023 · Fort Pierce
The St. Lucie Scoop
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A local newsroom, built for neighbors first.

We believe St. Lucie County deserves its own newsroom — one that reads the agenda packet, shows up to the meeting, and hits send before the coffee gets cold.

§ Our manifesto

Local journalism shouldn't feel like homework.

Somewhere between the Facebook groups and the regional chain paper, the basic civic question — what happened in my county this week? — got really hard to answer.

The Scoop exists to make that easy again. Five minutes, every weekday, in your inbox. Sourced, signed, and written by humans who actually live on the streets they cover.

We don't chase clicks. We don't cover other counties. We don't run ads that aren't ours. We work for our subscribers, which is why subscribing is free — and why we'd rather lose a sponsor than a reader's trust.

— Jade Montalvo & Daniel Ruiz
Co-founders · Fort Pierce, FL
§01 · What we believe

Four principles we won't negotiate on.

01

Sources, always.

Every factual claim links to its source — agenda packets, public records, direct interviews. No “according to sources.”

02

One county.

Every story happens inside the 688 square miles we live in. If it's not St. Lucie, it's not in the Scoop.

03

Plain English.

If a government document is unreadable, we translate it. If it's unread, we summarize it. If it's important, we explain why.

04

Reader first.

Subscribers come before sponsors. Open rates come before advertiser impressions. Trust, before scale.

§02 · Editorial standards

How we actually report.

A.

Every claim is sourced.

Every fact in every issue links to a public record, an agenda packet, a press release, or an interview. We publish a Sources list at the bottom of each issue.

B.

Opinion is labeled.

When an editor has an opinion, we say so. Everything else is reporting. We never blur the line. If you think we did, tell us.

C.

Corrections are public.

If we get it wrong, we fix it in-line, note the correction at the top, and list every correction on one page so our track record stays legible. We've logged 11 corrections in 148 issues.

D.

Conflicts are disclosed.

Any time we cover a business our editors are invested in, a family member works for, or a sponsor operates, we say so at the top of the item. We do not sell coverage.

E.

Ads are unmissable.

Our sponsor slot is labeled “— Sponsored —” in plain language, hand-written by us in our voice, and capped at one per issue. Never native, never confusable.

F.

People can respond.

If we name you or your business, you get a chance to comment before we publish. We don't hold your quote hostage; we quote you fairly.

§03 · The team

Six people who answer your reply-all emails.

JM
Jade Montalvo
Co-founder · Editor
Former city hall reporter at the Palm Beach Post. Lives in Fort Pierce. Owns a kayak.
DR
Daniel Ruiz
Co-founder · Product
Built civic tools at Code for America. Grew up in Port St. Lucie. Runs the Tradition 5K.
AL
Anna Liang
Senior reporter · Government
Reads the 284-page agenda packet so you don't have to. Previously at WPBF.
MC
Marcus Chen
Reporter · Growth & business
Covers permits, development, and the county's quiet gentrification patterns.
RT
Rosa Thompson
Things to do · Weekend
Knows every food truck, festival, and high-school game. Writes our Thursday list.
EB
Elijah Brooks
Audience & operations
Built our deliverability pipeline. Answers every tip email within 24 hours.
§04 · By the numbers

What three years of mornings adds up to.

14,200+
Subscribers
148
Issues mailed
63.4%
Avg. open rate
0
Mondays missed
§ · Join us

Read the first issue. See for yourself.

Tomorrow morning at 6:30, you'll know what changed in your county.