Robert "Bobby" Block has had a four-decade career in journalism, including contributing to the Wall Street Journal's coverage of 9/11, which earned a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News in 2002. He co-authored the book "Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security," which was a 2006 Washington Post Book of the Year and has reported on various conflicts across the globe, including the civil war in El Salvador, the Rwandan genocide in 1994, and the executions of more than 8,000 men and boys by Serbian forces in a Bosnian village in 1995. He also traveled the globe tracking terrorist financing after 9/11.

 Block took leadership with the Florida First Amendment Foundation on Feb. 1, 2023. During his first year at the helm, Block expanded the Foundation's mission beyond its traditional role of protecting government transparency and public records access to defend individual rights of expression and other First Amendment issues. A firm believer in government transparency and a near absolutist in his views on the First Amendment, Block views American's constitutional rights of free speech to be at the heart of all our freedoms. 

In a press release announcing his hire, the Foundation cites a "callous disregard for the law" in Florida's erosion of First Amendment rights. "Never has the work of the Foundation been more essential than it is now," Block said in a statement. "Public records and Sunshine laws are routinely disregarded across Florida with seemingly no fear of reprisals. This cannot be allowed to stand for the sake of our democracy."

In addition to the Wall Street Journal, Block has also reported for the Tribune Company, Reuters, and the Independent of London. He has also contributed to the New York Review of Books. He has also worked for SpaceX, the Center for Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the Angaza Foundation for African Reporting, and ran his business consultancy, Hurricane Communications Inc., and for a time was the acting CMO for Space Florida.