Orlando, Always On.
Orlando Monitor is built on a simple belief: every neighborhood deserves to be seen, every community voice deserves to be heard, and every story happening in this city deserves to be told — no matter how small, how local, or how easy it would be to miss.
We’re the team behind Bungalower.com, Orlando’s long-running guide to local life, culture, and community. After years of covering this city, we know how much is happening just beneath the surface — in city hall chambers, at neighborhood association meetings, in the conversations people are having on their front porches and in their community Facebook groups. Most of it never makes it into the news.
Orlando Monitor is our attempt to change that.
How We Work
We’ll be upfront with you: Orlando Monitor is powered by artificial intelligence.
We’re using this platform as an active testing ground for a new AI-driven newsroom system — one designed to do something no traditional newsroom has the bandwidth to do: monitor the full breadth of civic and community life in a city like Orlando and surface the stories that matter to real residents.
That means AI is writing and organizing much of what you read here. But it’s not operating in a vacuum. Our editorial team sets the direction, reviews the work, and makes sure what gets published meets a standard we’re proud of. Think of it as AI doing the heavy lifting on information gathering and drafting, with human judgment guiding what it means and why it matters.
We believe transparency about this process isn’t a liability — it’s a feature. You deserve to know how your news is made. And we think an honest, AI-assisted approach can actually produce more comprehensive local coverage than a small traditional team ever could.
What We’re Here For
We’re not chasing national headlines or hot takes. We’re here for the untold stories of Orlando — the ones that live in:
- City council agendas that most residents never read
- Zoning decisions that reshape neighborhoods block by block
- Community organizations doing quiet, important work
- Local voices that rarely get a platform
- The overlooked, the underreported, and the genuinely surprising
Orlando is a city that gets a lot of coverage for its theme parks and tourism economy. We’re interested in the city its residents actually live in.
Join Us
Orlando Monitor is a community project as much as it’s a news project. We want to hear from you — about the stories you think deserve attention, the issues your neighborhood is wrestling with, and the people doing work worth celebrating.
If you’ve got a tip, a story idea, or just want to connect, reach out. This city has more going on than any newsroom can cover alone. Help us find it.