Contrary to reports, Florida Gov. Rick Scott reads news

PolitiFact
Florida Gov. Rick Scott became known as the governor who doesn’t read newspapers after he said as much during a January news conference. PolitiFact reports, however, that “the same day Scott told a roomful of reporters he didn’t read their work, his staff gave him a 27-page packet of news stories” featuring 15 stories from Florida and national news outlets. Brian Burgess, Scott’s communications director, says the briefings started during the campaign. A communications staffer stays up late each night to compile a packet of important stories, which is updated before 7 a.m. So why did Scott say he didn’t read newspapers? PolitiFact listened to a recording of the news conference and notes that he did qualify his answer: “Well, I get some briefings, so if it’s something I need to know about, I do.” Burgess tells PolitiFact, “Anytime I had the opportunity to push back, I tried to do that … But it wasn’t the biggest myth we tried to refute.” Scott will see what it’s like to be on the other side of the questions when he does a one-day stint as a newspaper reporter as part of a program in which he samples everyday jobs. || Earlier: Florida governor’s PR man, media in ‘Twitter war’