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Here is the email she sent to the Florida Coronavirus listserv (copied from /u/aerlenbach on Reddit): Hey all – I’ve gotten a lot of emails from everyone duri

Here is the email she sent to the Florida Coronavirus listserv (copied from /u/aerlenbach on Reddit): Hey all – I’ve gotten a lot of emails from everyone during the last eight days ever since the dashboard went down, the data was hidden, and the functionality essentially crashed, so to clear up the confusion, I’m sending this final notice to the group. For reasons beyond my division’s control, as of late in the day on May 5, my office (the DOH-GIS office) is no longer managing the COVID-19 Dashboard. I am no longer involved in the publication of data, fixing errors, answering questions, etc., in any shape or form. I helped them get it back running a few times but I have no knowledge about their plans, what data they are now restricting, what data will be added and when, or any of that. I understand, appreciate, and even share your concern about all the dramatic changes that have occurred and those that are yet to come. However, I cannot provide any insight now or going forward. As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months. After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it. They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data. I know many of you have broken API links and map layers. I’ve listed the contacts for getting that information below. The primary contacts going forward are listed below. Anything related to EPI: REDACTED or REDACTED Anything related to the technical aspects of the dashboard: REDACTED It was great working with you guys. Good luck, and stay safe. -30- Rebekah Jones, GISP GIS Manager| Division of Disease Control and Health Protection PHONE # & EMAIL REDACTED

kreetx 6y ago
I wonder how much/in what way they wanted to cook the numbers. I.e would a small change affect the perception, could a big change go unnoticed etc. Interesting nevertheless.
- akiselev 6y ago
  I think it's chickens with their heads cut off all the way down at this point.
JackFr 6y ago
Reading the plain text of her letter, there is no accusation of wrongdoing, no cooking the numbers, etc. Rather it is a lot of innuendo. Which data to present and how is always an editorial decision as in the case of every other state’s DOH website and every newspapers dashboard. This is not a whistleblower complaint. It’s only evidence of bad faith on the part of the governor if you come in assuming bad faith to begin with.
- Traster 6y ago
  Yes, if you read the letter ignoring the context of the direct quotations in the news article then it's not evidence of bad faith on the part of the govorner. What's evidence of bad faith by the governer is the fact that she has told the news organisation: >Rebekah Jones said in an email to CBS12 News that her removal was "not voluntary" and that she was removed from her position because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen." But now that you know what she's said to the news reporters, you can see that the context of this email is trying to inform people that the data isn't trustworthy without directly accusing anyone of wrongdoing that may lead to her being fired.
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    The context of the direct quotations is context that she created. If her perception of the situation is inaccurate, that context will also be inaccurate.
    - kthejoker2 6y ago
      The only facts we know are she was involuntarily removed. The good faith assumptions are: * She was removed for reasons unrelated to manipulating data. * She was not asked to manipulate data. * No data will be manipulated. Surely the people in charge of removing her and identifying her replacement can verify those assumptions?
- makomk 6y ago
  I think I've got a good guess what data she didn't want removed or changed, and it's not exactly good for her case. On May the 5th, they day she was removed from her position, there was an all-time high spike of 113 reported coronavirus deaths due to Florida reporting a bunch of old deaths all at once: https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/15/florida-adds-43-coronavirus-deaths-as-state-continues-to-reopen/ https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/15/florida-adds... This did not represent an actual spike in deaths which had in reality been declining, but if I remember rightly some people did spin it as deaths increasing due to the lockdown being lifted. Deaths by date reported are conspicuously missing from the current version of the dashboard; it only has dates by date of death, which is far less favourable to the claim that lifting the lockdown is causing an increase in deaths.

kreetx 6y ago

I wonder how much/in what way they wanted to cook the numbers. I.e would a small change affect the perception, could a big change go unnoticed etc. Interesting nevertheless.

akiselev 6y ago
I think it's chickens with their heads cut off all the way down at this point.

JackFr 6y ago

Reading the plain text of her letter, there is no accusation of wrongdoing, no cooking the numbers, etc. Rather it is a lot of innuendo. Which data to present and how is always an editorial decision as in the case of every other state’s DOH website and every newspapers dashboard. This is not a whistleblower complaint. It’s only evidence of bad faith on the part of the governor if you come in assuming bad faith to begin with.

Traster 6y ago
Yes, if you read the letter ignoring the context of the direct quotations in the news article then it's not evidence of bad faith on the part of the govorner. What's evidence of bad faith by the governer is the fact that she has told the news organisation: >Rebekah Jones said in an email to CBS12 News that her removal was "not voluntary" and that she was removed from her position because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen." But now that you know what she's said to the news reporters, you can see that the context of this email is trying to inform people that the data isn't trustworthy without directly accusing anyone of wrongdoing that may lead to her being fired.
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  The context of the direct quotations is context that she created. If her perception of the situation is inaccurate, that context will also be inaccurate.
  - kthejoker2 6y ago
    The only facts we know are she was involuntarily removed. The good faith assumptions are: * She was removed for reasons unrelated to manipulating data. * She was not asked to manipulate data. * No data will be manipulated. Surely the people in charge of removing her and identifying her replacement can verify those assumptions?
makomk 6y ago
I think I've got a good guess what data she didn't want removed or changed, and it's not exactly good for her case. On May the 5th, they day she was removed from her position, there was an all-time high spike of 113 reported coronavirus deaths due to Florida reporting a bunch of old deaths all at once: https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/15/florida-adds-43-coronavirus-deaths-as-state-continues-to-reopen/ https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/15/florida-adds... This did not represent an actual spike in deaths which had in reality been declining, but if I remember rightly some people did spin it as deaths increasing due to the lockdown being lifted. Deaths by date reported are conspicuously missing from the current version of the dashboard; it only has dates by date of death, which is far less favourable to the claim that lifting the lockdown is causing an increase in deaths.