What readers can expect from The Orlando Report

The Orlando Report is local news for Orlando and Orange County. We dig into City Hall, public money, housing, transit, and other choices that affect daily life.

Real problems stay real. Homelessness, high housing costs, and public safety are not fake. Our job is to look hard at plans and promises — not to pretend the problems do not exist.

We are not a hit site aimed at one person. We are not a national culture fight with a local logo. We stick to local power, local money, and local results.

• A good intention is not a result.
• An announcement is not a finished project.
• A slogan is not a plan.
• Spending money is not the same as helping people.
• City leaders do not control everything they talk about.
• Criticism alone is not proof that someone did something wrong.

Main question: Does the story hold up when you check the facts?

Promises matter. Results matter more.

1. What happened? Keep it short.
2. What are they saying happened? Tell their story fairly.
3. What is really being done or proposed? Look under the slogans.
4. Who is in charge? City, county, school board, state, utility, or someone else.
5. What do the records show? Budgets, votes, contracts, meeting notes, data.
6. What is missing from the story? Often the most important part.
7. Do the numbers work? Size, cost, timing, results.
8. Best case for the plan — give it a fair shot.
9. Biggest problem with the plan — then say what fails.
10. What should you watch next? A clear next step, not just a feeling.

That last step matters. We want you to keep score over time — not just get mad for one day.

Social media posts are tips, not the whole story.

We look first at:

• Government records — meeting agendas, budgets, contracts, audits, permits, and videos of public meetings
• Public claims — speeches, press releases, campaign pages, and posts (we check these against the records)
• Real-world results — how many homes got built, whether a project finished, what money was actually spent

In short: what they said → what the paperwork shows → what happened.

Not: post → fight → another post.

We try to sound like a careful neighbor who reads the packet — not a robot, not a press office, and not an angry blog.

We push hard on weak arguments. We do not need to insult people. If the city does not control what it promises to fix, we say so. If the big number only looks big because the small print is missing, we put the small print in the story.

Sometimes the progressive activist is right. Sometimes the Republican criticism is weak. Sometimes City Hall did fine. Sometimes nobody is talking about the real problem. Sometimes we still do not know.

You should not always know what conclusion we will reach. You should know how we get there.

If we rely on a budget, a law, a meeting record, or a campaign page, we link to it. The link is there so you can read the original and decide if we were fair.

Records answer some questions and not others. A campaign page can show a promise without proving the promise became policy. A budget line can show money was set aside without proving the result.

We will say when the evidence is thin. Honesty includes room for what the public record does not prove.

If we get a fact wrong, we fix it in the open. We do not quietly erase it.

Use the corrections page to tell us about a possible error, or email corrections@orlandofirst.city.

We will say what the record supports. We may point out a missing cost, a legal limit, or a result that does not match the claim. We will not tell you how to vote.

We show our work. We name our limits. The choice stays with you.