A Florida power company didn’t like a journalist’s commentary. Its consultants had him followed
Internal records shared with the Florida Times-Union show an extensive background check was conducted on columnist Nate Monroe.
By Mario Alejandro Ariza for Floodlight and Annie Martin for the Orlando Sentinel
Consultants working for America's largest power company covertly monitored a Jacksonville journalist and obtained a report containing his social security number and other sensitive personal information, leaked documents reveal.
The surveillance happened after the journalist wrote critically about how Florida Power & Light tried to sway city council members to sign off on its business plans. Text messages show an FPL executive was kept abreast of Florida Times-Union columnist Nate Monroe’s movements while he was on vacation in the Florida panhandle in November 2019, an investigation by the Times-Union, the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight has found.
This story co-published in the Guardian.