About Suncoast Searchlight
Suncoast Searchlight is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit newsroom producing watchdog journalism for Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties.
Our journalism goes beyond the daily headlines to uncover what’s happening, why it matters and who is affected. We use public records, data, deep reporting and fact-checking to hold powerful institutions accountable and give people across the Suncoast the information they need to understand their community.
Our journalism is free to read and free for other news organizations to republish, helping important stories reach people across the Suncoast.
Suncoast Searchlight is the publication of Community News Collaborative, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
About Our Mission
Suncoast Searchlight’s mission is to produce investigative and explanatory journalism that serves and empowers the residents of Florida’s Suncoast region (Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties). We shine a light on critical issues affecting our community. Through independent reporting and collaboration with diverse media partners, we foster transparency, accountability and an informed citizenry, ensuring that all voices are heard and that the public has access to the information they need to drive meaningful change.
What That Looks Like
We hold power accountable.
We investigate institutions whose decisions affect the people who live here. We pursue public records, analyze data and stay with stories beyond the daily news cycle.
We explain what matters.
We produce accountability and explanatory journalism that helps readers understand complicated issues, consequential decisions and what they mean for the Suncoast.
We work with other newsrooms, not against them.
We collaborate with local and statewide media and make our journalism available for republication at no cost. Working together helps the work reach more people.
We listen to our community.
We seek out the concerns, experiences and ideas of people across the Suncoast, and we create opportunities for residents to engage directly with our journalists and one another.
See What We’ve Accomplished
Since launching in 2025, Suncoast Searchlight has grown from an idea into a regional newsroom producing ambitious watchdog journalism, collaborating with media partners and building an audience for independent local news.
Our first annual report tells that story — the journalism, the people, the partnerships and the community support that made it possible. Read the report here.
Read More From Our Editor
When Suncoast Searchlight launched in 2025, Executive Editor-in-Chief Emily Le Coz laid out the case for a new kind of local newsroom — and what we hoped to build for the Suncoast.
