RICK OUTZEN is the publisher and owner of Pensacola Inweekly, an alt- weekly newspaper that published its first issue on July 1, 1999.
Six years later, he launched his blog, aptly named “Rick’s Blog,” quickly became one of the most influential blogs in the state of Florida.
His reporting for The Daily Beast on the Billings murders, a double-homicide that garnered national attention, earned him a profile in The New York Times . He was also featured on Dateline NBC’s segment on the murders, “No Safe Place.”
Rick also covered the BP oil spill for The Daily Beast, earning international attention for unraveling the oil company’s spin on the disaster. He was interviewed by MSNBC, CNN, CBC-TV, and Al Jazeera English.
He was a finalist for the Sunshine State Awards for investigative reporting for his coverage of the failed turnaround effort of a middle school in the Escambia County Public School District.
In 2014 he self-published a digital book on his “Outtakes” columns: I’m That Guy: Collected Columns of a Southern Journalist.
His debut novel “City of Grudges” (SelectBooks, 2018) was a finalist for Killer Nashville 2019 Silver Falchion Award, Thriller category; won third place – Florida Writers Association’s 2018 Royal Palm Literary Award, Mystery; and received an Honorable Mention- 2018 Reader’s Favorite International Book Award, Mystery.
The manuscript for “Blood in the Water” received an Honorable Mention – 2019 Reader’s Favorite International Book Award, Thriller-Political.
Rick grew up in the Mississippi Delta and graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he served as student body president and was selected to the Ole Miss Hall of Fame.
