The Marjorie is Florida’s independent news outlet dedicated to social justice and the environment We are not a breaking news organization.
We know that to be a Floridian is to feel and face extraordinary environmental challenges. Impacts from the climate crisis, pressures from unbounded population growth, increasing tourism, intensive agriculture, extractive industries, habitat fragmentation, legacies of bad policy, and myriad other factors threaten our state’s ecosystems—and their abilities to support us. We also know that the conse
quences of these impacts are felt unequally and inequitably, depending on race, class, ability, access to resources, and other socioeconomic factors. Our mission is to report on Florida’s deeper human story, recognizing that the crises we face are not simple scenarios with straightforward solutions. We embrace the gray area, with all of its messy nuance and complex history. We believe that doing so helps break through the partisan noise, and helps Floridians make empowered, well-informed, and reparative decisions. As a woman-owned nonprofit, we prioritize underserved perspectives and feature overlooked experiences. Our name channels the fire, intelligence, and passion of Florida’s three iconic Majories: author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, conservationist Marjorie Harris Carr, and advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglas. We specialize in telling in-depth stories about Florida’s environment that consider human values as well as important historical and cultural contexts. As the stakes get higher, the demand grows for new and better ways to tell stories. We meet that challenge with an ever-evolving media landscape that is rooted in reclaiming Florida’s deeper story.
05/05/2025
🌿A Second Chance for O’Henry 🐾
In her latest Chronicles of Wild Florida, CD Davidson-Hiers stumbles upon something limp and lifeless in her yard. What follows is a winding journey through swampland, gas station encounters, and a quiet act of rescue that blurs the line between human and wild.
Inside Climate News WUSF Public Media WLRN Public Radio and Television Tampa Bay Times Miami Herald
18/04/2025
🌕 Last week’s full moon, the pink moon, was named after a familiar Florida bloom: pink phlox. 🌸
To writer Leslie Kemp Poole, these wildflowers aren’t just a seasonal joy—they’re a thread to childhood memories and her grandmother’s front yard, where phlox once burst into bloom every spring.
Read her past “Lessons from the Marjories” column, Searching for Granny’s Phlox 🌸 ➡️ 🔗 themarjorie.org/2025/03/15/searching-for-grannys-phlox
10/04/2025
Sharks on the Line by Marlowe Starling
Part III: Sharing the Oceans
Sharks are more sought-after than ever. Yet, recreational anglers have become increasingly irate toward these species, complaining that too many of them are eating their hooked catch. Meanwhile, the diving industry says they are more valuable alive than dead. In Part III of this three-part series, The Marjorie journeys across the state of Florida exploring a crucial question: Where do sharks fit into Florida’s future?
Dive into this three-part series 🦈 ➡️ themarjorie.org/2025/03/17/sharks-on-the-line
04/04/2025
Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jack E. Davis joined Rick Steves’ radio show to talk about the Gulf of Mexico— its rich ecology, its history, and its many names.
He also gave a shout out to his recent commentary in The Marjorie, where he reflects on the political and ecological significance of renaming the Gulf.
Part II: Tight Lines
As the recreational fishery chips away at shark populations outside the boundaries of scientists’ data books — and as a new constitutional amendment loosens restrictions on anglers across the state — Florida faces an uncertain future for sustainable shark management. In Part II of this three-part series, The Marjorie embeds with recreational and commercial fishermen to parse through the industries’ varied interactions with and attitudes toward sharks.
Explore this three-part series 🦈 ➡️ themarjorie.org/2025/03/17/sharks-on-the-line
02/04/2025
✨We're thrilled to welcome The Marjorie's new contributing writer, CD Davidson-Hiers! ✨
CD Davidson-Hiers is a journalist based in northwest Florida who covers a range of topics including climate, conservation, and the intersection of science and nature. She works for the Education Writers Association as the organization’s membership coordinator. She is pursuing a master’s in narrative nonfiction at the University of Georgia and runs the Florida Student News Watch student journalism program, which pairs young writers with professional mentors to cover environmental topics in Florida. She previously worked as a local reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper, where her coverage of the Florida COVID-19 vaccine rollout garnered international attention. Her bylines have appeared in The Bitter Southerner, Flamingo, Nautilus and Orion magazines, USAToday and elsewhere.
As a contributing writer, CD produces stories for The Marjorie’s website and newsletter.
Welcome to the team, CD! 🤗
26/03/2025
Sharks on the Line by Marlowe Starling
Part I: On the Menu
Sharks worldwide are imperiled by overfishing. Yet experts disagree on whether policies in Florida and the U.S. aimed at protecting sharks have in fact done the opposite. In Part I of this three-part series, The Marjorie investigates how a federal ban on shark fins shrunk a commercial fishery and satisfied shark advocates — but did little to curb shark deaths.
Sink your teeth into this three-part series 🦈 ➡️ themarjorie.org/2025/03/17/sharks-on-the-line
Marlowe Starling David Shiffman
18/03/2025
✨ New Series: Sharks on the Line by Marlowe Starling 🦈
Florida is the Fishing Capital of the World, hosting the biggest recreational fishery in the U.S. It’s also a regional hub for Gulf and Atlantic sharks. After the Shark Fin Sale Elimination Act of 2022 banned the sale and import of shark fins entirely, the commercial shark fishing industry effectively died — yet threats to Florida’s coastal sharks continue to imperil their populations.
Now, as recreational fishing guides complain of too many sharks preying on their baited catch, and as new legislation changes the way Florida’s anglers interact with marine wildlife, sharks are under a more intense spotlight.
Sink your teeth into this three-part series 🦈 ➡️ themarjorie.org/2025/03/17/sharks-on-the-line
Marlowe Starling David Shiffman Oceana
10/03/2025
Stay informed on the latest environmental issues shaping Florida. From climate threats to conservation efforts, the brings you in-depth reporting that matters.
Read the latest stories: themarjorie.org/the-florida-climate-reporting-network
WLRN Public Radio and Television WUFT News South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Herald
04/03/2025
🚨 Federal job cuts are hitting Florida hard.
From national parks to wildlife refuges to NOAA hurricane forecasting, recent layoffs under the current administration are raising alarm. What does this mean for Florida’s environment and storm preparedness?
Read WLRN Public Radio and Television's coverage by Jenny Staletovich through our page: themarjorie.org/the-florida-climate-reporting-network
26/02/2025
🏇💰 Oil drilling or environmental disaster?
A polo-playing family's bid to drill in Florida’s Apalachicola River Basin has locals worried about water quality, fisheries, and their way of life.
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Reclaim #FloridaWoman
The Marjorie is a woman-owned reporting nonprofit that promotes a greater understanding of issues related to women and the environment in Florida through storytelling and community building.
Florida is facing unprecedented environmental challenges. We see our state’s vulnerabilities in climate change, which manifest in climbing temperatures, rising sea levels, worsening storms and the spread of emergent diseases. Coupled with the pressures from unbounded population growth, increasing tourism, intensive agriculture, habitat fragmentation and myriad other factors, our state’s natural systems are in a precarious balance.
Now more than ever, Florida deserves a publication that contextualizes and casts a critical eye on the environmental issues characterizing our state.
So: a warm welcome to The Marjorie, an online publication that fills the niche for in-depth, thoughtful and sustained reporting on the state’s environment, from the inside out. Part-blog, part-news magazine, part-commentary, part-community, The Marjorie is the brainchild of three journalists and Florida natives, Hannah Brown, Becca Burton and Anna Hamilton.
Here’s a little bit about what you can expect from us:
We write about people doing environmental work in Florida
We infuse our own sensibilities, opinions and experiences through editorial work
We curate important environmental topics/issues/reporting in Florida
We consider environmental issues through specific lenses, be they historical, feminist or humor, to shine a light on new angles and perspectives
A crucial aspect of The Marjorie is acknowledging the role women have long played in Florida’s environmental movements. Our name is a tip of the hat to three women whose work helped define contemporary environmental advocacy: author and journalist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings; journalist, feminist and Everglades advocate Marjory Stoneman Douglas; and conservationist and activist Marjorie Harris Carr.
We use the Marjories as jumping off points, guides and inspirations, and celebrate their commitment to wild Florida—but we also intend to explore and complicate their legacies to bring nuance to the discussion of what we mean when we say “environment,” to whom those spaces apply and how we can do better moving forward.
The Marjorie is dedicated to bringing people together in the name of protecting Florida’s lands, waters, animals and people. We invite you to join our community of environmental leaders by engaging with us and participating in the conversation.
The story of Florida’s environment is sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant. Wherever we go from here, The Marjorie will be there, too, documenting the progress and missteps, and offering insight.
