St. Pete Catalyst, Published By: Bill Young
Ben Montgomery, a reporter and editor for the Tampa Bay edition of the national Axios online newsletter, was fired Monday after he replied to a Florida Department of Education press release, calling it “propaganda.”
The FDE email concerned a recent DEI ( Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) roundtable hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“In Florida, we are not going to back down to the woke mob, and we will expose the scams they are trying to push onto students across the country,” DeSantis was quoted in the release.
Montgomery replied to the email within three minutes of receiving it. Shortly afterward, the Education Department’s communication officer shared Montgomery’s reply on Twitter, which set off a firestorm of comments both pro and con.
Wednesday morning, Montgomery told the Catalyst he was still in a state of shock. “I believed in the mission, I thought,” he said. “I still believe that, besides a few people, Axios knows what it’s doing. But I’m confused by this move, and sad for all of us.
“It hurts me for a little bit, being involved in the dust-up, but I think it hurts democracy. They (Axios) have lost a lot of credibility with people who have read me for a long time. And they have harmed their credibility nationally, I think. It’s sad because there are a lot of really good journalists there doing good work. It shouldn’t have happened.”
Montgomery said he was fired Monday evening by Jamie Stockwell, executive editor of Axios Local, who claimed the reporter’s “reputation in the Tampa Bay area” had been “irreparably tarnished.” Read more
