Pete Weitzel

Pete Weitzel served as managing editor of the Miami Herald, where he worked as a reporter and editor for nearly 40 years. When he was president of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors in 1984, he established the Florida First Amendment Foundation to serve as a government transparency watchdog. He was its president until 1995. In that role, he helped draft an amendment to the Florida Constitution guaranteeing citizens a right of access, and served on a Florida Supreme Court commission that modified state court rules on court records.

Weitzel served on the board of the Florida foundation and he also helped launch the National Freedom of Information Coalition and served as its second president. In January 2004, he moved to Washington, D.C., and started the Coalition of Journalists for Open Government, an alliance of 32 journalism-related organizations working on open government issues. Working with the American Society of News Editors, Weitzel helped launch the first Sunshine Week in 2005. The Coalition was subsequently merged into the Sunshine in Government Initiative, which he also helped start.

In 1997, Weitzel was selected as one of the initial inductees in Florida’s Freedom of Information Hall of Fame. In 2007, he received the John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award from the National Press Club. The National Freedom of Information Coalition inducted him into the State Open Government Hall of Fame in 2015.

Weitzel died Sept. 15, 2024, in Juno Beach, Florida.

(Updated April 2025)