Emily Le Coz, executive editor-in-chief

Emily Le Coz is Suncoast Searchlight’s executive editor-in-chief and oversees the newsroom’s editorial strategy and day-to-day operations. Emily comes to Suncoast Searchlight from USA TODAY, where she spent five years as an investigative reporter and editor, producing and overseeing some of the news organization’s most ambitious work.

Prior to USA TODAY, Emily led GateHouse Media’s national data and investigations team, which published its work throughout the country. She also previously served as deputy investigations editor of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where she was part of the award-winning Bias on the Bench series.

Her work over the years has won multiple awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, APME Public Service Award, ASNE Batten Medal, SPJ Sigma Delta Chi Award and National Headliner Award for Public Service, among others. She also was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the Selden Ring Award.

Emily and her family have lived in Sarasota since 2015.

Reach Emily via email here.

Josh Salman, senior investigative reporter/deputy editor

Josh Salman is a senior investigative reporter and deputy editor at Suncoast Searchlight. Before joining the nonprofit newsroom, he spent three years as a watchdog editor at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Born and raised in Sarasota, Josh returned home after college to work for the Charlotte Sun, then joined the Bradenton Herald and eventually the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, first as a business reporter and then as an investigative reporter. Josh later spent time on the national investigations teams at GateHouse Media and USA TODAY.

During his career, his work has triggered federal investigations, uncovered illegal activity by convicted felons, exposed loopholes that have cost taxpayers millions of dollars, prompted new state laws and helped struggling families save their homes. His reporting has won state, regional and national journalism awards.

Reach Josh via email here.

Kara Newhouse, Investigative Data Reporter

Kara Newhouse is Suncoast Searchlight’s investigative data reporter and has more than a decade of journalism experience in the U.S. and abroad. As a reporter in Pennsylvania, Kara's investigation of a wealthy school district led to board member resignations, a more transparent superintendent search and the restoration of elementary art and music classes. It also won multiple state journalism awards.

Kara hold a master’s degree from the University of Maryland, where she was a fellow at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and worked on investigations related to housing, high school sports, worker safety and the legacy of Jim-Crow-era lynchings. Prior to Suncoast Searchlight, Kara was an editor and podcast producer for a digital news outlet focused on education.

Kara is originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and moved to Sarasota from Washington, DC. When not writing, she loves to run, hike and watch women's sports.

Reach Kara via email here.

Alice Herman, Watchdog/Investigative Reporter

Alice Herman is a watchdog/ investigative reporter at Suncoast Searchlight. She has covered politics, labor and religion nationally, as well as in local communities in Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan.

In 2020 and 2021, she covered the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, revealing abuses within temp healthcare agencies and exposing anti-union efforts by national and multinational corporations. Her reporting on the packing supplies company Uline revealed the company's practice of contracting foreign workers to work on tourist visas for subminimum wages.

Before joining Suncoast Searchlight, Alice covered democracy and electoral politics in her home state of Wisconsin for the Guardian US. While there, she reported on election security, election administration and disinformation.

Reach Alice via email here.

Derek Gilliam, Watchdog/Investigative Reporter

Derek Gilliam is a watchdog/investigative reporter at Suncoast Searchlight. During his career, he has covered courts and crime, mental health, real-estate, economic development and general business issues for news organizations throughout Florida.

Most recently, Derek has focused on real estate and development while also covering local businesses for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he untangled a particularly egregious example of real estate fraud months before the police arrested the fraudster. That story attracted the attention of a local legislator who then was able to pass a state law to close a loophole identified in his story.

A graduate of the University of Florida, Derek’s work has earned numerous statewide journalism awards. He has lived in Sarasota since 2021.

Reach Derek via email here.