Last Friday night, like he’s done weekly for more than two decades, Rob Lorei sat underneath the studio lights at WEDU at the close of the station’s public affairs program, “Florida This Week.”
Like it’s always been, the 70-year-old, lifelong newsman was flanked by a wide array of panelists. This time they included Jennifer Griffith from the Pinellas County Democratic Party, consultant and pollster Barry Edwards, Pulitzer-winning columnist Dan Ruth, and Rosemary Goudreau O’Hara the former opinions editor at the Tampa Tribune.
But this signoff was different.
Reading from a teleprompter, Lorei told viewers that he’s made plans to step away as host of a program he’s helmed since its inception nearly 24 years ago. As previously reported. he expressed pride over how he and his producers have cultivated a show that’s always brought together a wide array of viewpoints.
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After nearly 24 years, Rob Lorei is stepping down as host of WEDU’s ‘Florida This Week’
Despite some disagreements over policy, no one has ever stormed off the show, Lorei said onscreen, adding, “We’ve shown it’s possible to shed more light than heat in these divided times.”
He also revealed news about a serious health issue: cancer. ” …expressing solidarity with anyone who has the disease or knows someone with it. “My heart goes out to you,” he added.
“Florida This Week” is not going anywhere, and it’s new host is Lissette Campos, known locally for her time as an anchor on WFTS, Tampa Bay’s ABC affiliate. “I leave you in her capable hands,” Lorei told viewers last Friday night.
Campos—an Emmy-award winner—most recently served as Senior Director of Strategic Branding, Marketing and Communications for the Tampa Bay Chamber. She is set to interview Lorei on the March 14 episode of “Florida This Week” before taking over as host on March 21.
As the show faded out, Lorei still looked like a guy with unfinished business. Last Monday, three days after his final episode, he confirmed that suspicion.
“The fire still burns,” he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. He described reading through the morning papers and his recent attendance at a meeting about social security in East Tampa where about 150 people turned out. “I thought, ‘Oh, my god, what a week of news that that potentially we could talk about.’”
Stepping away, he admitted, leaves him with mixed emotions since he didn’t really want to give up the show. On most days, despite dealing with stage four cancer of the liver and colon, he feels good. But there are times when the treatments take it out of him.
“I might feel bad for three or four days out of each month, but you never know when it’s going to happen,” Lorei said. “I didn’t feel it was right to leave WEDU in the lurch since there could be a time where I was feeling so bad that I couldn’t come in and do the show.”
Over the weekend, it has been heartening to hear from people who love the show. “Ninety-nine percent of the people that are contacting me or people I’ve never heard from before, which is good,” he added.
In a press release, WEDU President and CEO Paul Grove praised Lorei’s dedication, insight, and leadership, calling him “an incredible pillar” of the PBS affiliate.
Spencer Briggs, longtime producer of “Florida This Week” who’s been with WEDU for nearly 30 years, told CL that it’s been rewarding to work alongside Lorei for two dozen years as they’ve chased the facts and guests who could speak to Floridians’ most-pressing issues. It’s not always easy to get electeds, scholars and journalists to join a discussion where they’ll be met with opposing views, but Briggs has always been able to sell panelists on Lorei’s integrity and preparedness.
“He’s always informed, prepared, and fair. We’re PBS, and we avoid the circus. Our audience tends to be pretty smart, and they appreciate Rob’s character,” Briggs added.
Lorei’s not done at WEDU either, and has plans to host a new interview program called “Perspectives.” Briggs—who will continue with Campos on “Florida This Week”—will also play producer. A spokesperson for WEDU told CL that “Perspectives” has not yet announced a launch date, but Lorei said that he’s nailing down more details about the first shows this week.
For now, Lorei will continue to chase the news (he was seen observing a recent #50501 protest) and lean on his family that’s been really supportive. His dog, a poodle mix named Pixel, continues to enjoy her walks with Lorei, too.
Matter of factly, he told CL that outside some of the medical treatments, he simply doesn’t feel sick.
“I still am pretty vibrant. It’s the medication that holds me back,” he said, noting his suspicion that the “several tumors” inside of him are slow-growing. “I don’t know what the prognosis is. I don’t know how long you know I’ve got, but I certainly don’t feel bad.”
But hosting “Florida This Week” for nearly 24 years has changed Lorei—who co-founded the Bay area’s community radio station WMNF Tampa 88.5-FM, more than 40 years ago. The station—which unceremoniously dispatched Lorei, twice—had a pretty radical outlook and regularly opened the doors to people who rarely got on radio.
WEDU wanted him to be more like Tim Russert and ask tough questions to both sides. Instead of chopping it up with the likes of Noam Chomsky, Pete Seeger and Barbara Ehrenreich, Lorei was confronted with the responsibility of putting on Republicans and conservatives, then truly listening to them and giving them a shot at finishing their thoughts and sentences. That balance, Lorei thinks, is something he did really well. He’s proud of what he accomplished at the station, but in hindsight, he thinks he could’ve opened the door a little bit wider.
Something Lorei’s not thinking too much about, however, is the cancer inside him.
“I don’t feel sorry for myself at all. There are people in much worse shape than me,” he said, noting how he sees people at Moffitt who’re having to navigate treatments and payments with much more difficulty.
He’s certainly saddened to have seen other friends pass away—and admitted that his brother, a Catholic priest, immediately administered last rites sacraments after the diagnosis—but Lorei doesn’t feel much anxiety about his situation. Instead, he’s opted for a more Buddhist approach, one of acceptance that everyone passes on and goes through transitions.
“I feel like maybe I’ll be off to the next adventure when it happens, but as long as I’m here, I feel like I’ve got to contribute something. I’ve got to be out there fighting for the values I’ve always cared about,” Lorei said. “But I’m not scared.”
UPDATED 03/17/25 4:40 p.m. Updated to show that Lorei was a co-founder, not the founder, of WMNF.
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This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2025.
