"This sort of thing has a chilling effect. Nobody wants to have their life disrupted by this machine," Montgomery said in a phone call on Wednesday evening. "They call it 'media accountability,' and it is not that. It's meaner than that, and more personal, and affecting. … It has a quieting effect and that's a shame. It's sad for democracy and sad for all of us." DeSantis, who is widely expected to run for president next year, has a press shop that is known for being combative with the media. Members of his team have highlighted individual reporters on Twitter while demanding corrections. They have also shared screenshots of emails and requests for comment sent by journalists in an effort to paint those reporters as biased. These posts from DeSantis' press team have led to the reporters who are targeted being bombarded with angry messages and threats from the governor's fans. In one 2021 instance, the Associated Press publicly accused a former DeSantis spokesperson of engaging in "harassment." In addition to DeSantis' official press operation, far-right Florida activists have set up their own publications focused on positive coverage of the governor that have been rewarded with exclusive coverage opportunities. "My colleagues have sort of run into this situation where they will send an email asking for information and that email is then screenshotted and sometimes … it's framed in a certain way … it's tweeted of course by the press officers and used as a way to kind of paint the reporter as a lefty liberal activist. It's weaponized," Montgomery said. "It seems like the goal is just to make the reporter's life as miserable as possible," he continued. "Maybe there's some level of, like, accountability in there, but mostly it's terrible comments, and, you know, meanness and snark, and things that aren't constructive." | 
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