This Week on NewsNight
Useful Links
A special edition of NewsNight Conversations focuses on mental health and the wide range of people who are struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic. A team of experts and journalists examine how the events of the past year have affected us individually and as a community.
NewsNight airs Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. on WUCF. Join the conversation about the stories in your community.
Watch Last Week's Show
Debating changes to Florida’s unemployment system
Democrats and Republicans debate whether to raise Florida’s unemployment benefits.
NewsNight Interviews & Clips Playlist
Join the Conversation
We want to hear from you! Send us your story ideas about what you want to see covered in the community. Email NewsNight.
NewsNight Interviews
Click here to view the NewsNight Interviews playlist.
NewsNight en Español
Click here to view the NewsNight en Español playlist.
Charlie Crist to Challenge Ron DeSantis for Florida Governor
NewsNight’s Steve Mort spoke with Frank Orlando, Political Science Instructor at Saint Leo’s University, about next year’s gubernatorial race in Florida following Charlie Crist’s decision to mount a challenge to Ron DeSantis.
Sen. Dennis Baxley talks changes to Florida's vote-by-mail process
NewsNight's Steve Mort spoke with Republican State Senator Dennis Baxley (R-Ocala) about deplatforming by social media companies, cuts to Bright Futures, and the legislation he sponsored making changes to Florida's vote-by-mail rules.
Rep. Anna Eskamani discusses key issues from the legislative session
NewsNight's Steve Mort spoke with Democratic State Representative Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) about several key issues in the legislative session, including failed attempts to increase unemployment benefits.
Impacts of Derek Chauvin guilty verdict
UCF Professor Larry Walker, who researches social justice issues, talks to NewsNight about the recent guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial and whether it could be the moment civil rights campaigners have been working towards.
Los mandatos de las máscaras en la Florida Central
Nancy Alvarez y Hazel Ortiz de Noticias Univision en Orlando discuten los mandatos de las máscaras en la Florida Central, incluso si los distritos escolares deberían continuar exigiendo cubrimientos faciales.
La vacuna en Florida
Con las nuevas variantes del Coronavirus-19 y el contagio en nuestra comunidad, Nancy Alvarez comenta con Verónica Zaragovia de WLRN y Health News Florida los esfuerzos para expandir el acceso a la vacuna en Florida.
About the Show
NewsNight Wins FABJ Award
NewsNight is a weekly, taped 30-minute segment, featuring WFTV’s Nancy Alvarez as the moderator along with a team of journalists in radio, tv, newspaper, and blogs across Central Florida. The show is a weekly round-table discussion that highlights local journalism around important community topics. It is the story behind the story. The panel will break down the big story or stories of the week and discuss what and how they’ll impact the community.
Your community.
Your concerns.
Your journalists.
NewsNight airs every Friday at 8:30 p.m. on WUCF.
NewsNight Wins Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists
WUCF’s weekly news program NewsNight took home an award during the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists virtual awards ceremony on Saturday, May 9. NewsNight won first place in the transportation and traffic category in the large television market division for its work on transportation reporting in 2019.
About Moderator Nancy Alvarez
Nancy Alvarez is a bilingual news anchor and reporter for Central Florida’s ABC affiliate, WFTV Channel 9, and host of NewsNight on WUCF, Central Florida's PBS station.
Over the last 20 years, she has played a role in covering every major story in the region including hurricanes, political events, and the tragedy at the Pulse nightclub in June of 2016.
Nancy began her career as a reporter covering the space program in Brevard County providing live coverage of countless launches and landings. She was on the runway in Florida waiting for the space shuttle Columbia when it broke apart over Texas during re-entry. She was among the first reporters on the air covering the tragedy from the Kennedy Space Center.
Nancy was also on the front line for the infamous 2004 Hurricane Season when three hurricanes hit Florida in less than two months.
More recently, Nancy was one of the first reporters on the ground in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017. Over the course of multiple trips, she provided coverage of the impacts of the storm both on the island and in Florida as storm evacuees moved to the mainland. She was also there for the political unrest that led to the resignation of the island’s governor in 2019.
She also works as a public speaker and has used her reporting experience to advocate for issues including domestic violence and the challenges facing special needs kids in schools. Nancy is a first-generation Cuban American and lives in Orlando with her husband and two children.
Follow Nancy on Twitter here.