For the second time in four months, Andy Bromage of Seven Days has seen fit to fire a volley in the direction of GMD’s Dear Leader, John Odum. Don’t really know why Bromage is spending so much time on a mere blogger and (very part-time) news editor of a twice-monthly small-market free newspaper, but he apparently sees Odum as a notable threat to the standards and ethics of Vermont journalism.

(Such as they are.)

In August, Bromage wrote some highly critical words about Odum’s hiring as the (very part-time) news editor of The Bridge:  

John Odum has made a name for himself by mocking Republicans and cheerleading for Democrats on his popular politics blog Green Mountain Daily. He’s also worked as a paid political consultant, most recently for PowerThru Consulting, advocating for myriad progressive causes.

But now he’s donning a new title: news editor for Montpelier’s twice-monthly newspaper The Bridge. And Odum says that in his new role, he’ll check his opinions at the door and practice just-the-facts-ma’am journalism.

Then, on January 6, Bromage put up a post on “Blurt,” Seven Days’ staff blog, in which he made fun of Bridge publisher Nat Frothingham’s attempt to market a Statehouse column written by John Odum. Bromage reiterated his earlier precis of Odum’s resume, and wondered about “a perceived or actual conflict of interest.”

(Addendum: Not only did Bromage file this on “Blurt,” but 7D posted this story on its “Daily 7” for Monday 1/9. “Daily 7” is its e-mailed capsule of the top seven stories in Vermont news. Now, if the launch of Odum’s column is one of the biggest stories in the state, then either Seven Days is suffering from a severe perspective disorder, or we live in a really, really boring state. I vote for both.)

First, a quibble: if Bromage had paid any attention to Odum’s actual GMD posts, he would know that Odum is nothing like a cheerleader for the Dems. He is at least as likely to slam Dems/Libs/Progs as to wave the pompoms. Many of Odum’s GMD posts — especially compared to the ill-considered rants of the rest of us — are even-tempered and insightful. (Somehow, Odum gets stigmatized for anything that anybody writes on GMD, when he exercises virtually no editorial control whatsoever.)

Second, journalistic purity is pretty much a joke in Vermont. And Seven Days is one of the darker kettles in that rather inky kitchen.  

The whole notion of a firewall between journalism and advocacy in Vermont is completely laughable. Really, it’s S.O.P. to play both sides of that street. Indeed, it’s the only way for journalists to make any real money in a small state where mainstream journalistic enterprises are woefully underfunded.

Let’s take three cases far more egregious than Odum’s, because all three are far more famous and influential. One: Anson Tebbetts, first a reporter, then a Douglas Administration appointee, now News Director of WCAX-TV. I don’t recall anyone questioning his hiring. Two: Chris Graff, former Vermont Bureau Chief for the AP, now chief flack for National Life and simultaneously a frequent “political analyst” for a variety of media outlets, who somehow never acknowledge his massive potential conflict of interest.

Three: the late great Peter Freyne himself, the most outrageous of lefty opinionators and onetime flack for Democratic Gov. Madeleine Kunin. If Odum’s past disqualifies him from writing a politics column, then Freyne should never have been allowed to darken the doorways of Seven Days. Still, somehow, Freyne became a respected commentator and reporter who made significant contributions to Vermont journalism. If he can do it, then maybe — just maybe — we should give Odum a chance.

(Ironically, Freyne himself almost didn’t get the chance. In Seven Days’ obituary of Freyne, co-publisher Pamela Polston noted that after his tenure as Kunin’s spokesperson, “Peter’s reputation was sullied, and for quite some time he couldn’t find work in Vermont — as a journalist or anything else.” IMHO, it’s a damn good thing that Seven Days looked beyond the taint and gave Freyne an opportunity to shine.)

In fact, Odum’s work as writer and news editor for The Bridge has been exemplary. His articles have been fair and objective, and he has tried to explore issues and trends in the civic life of Montpelier that had heretofore gone unexplored. Bromage even acknowledged as much in his August screed about the alleged evils of Odum:

His first piece for the Bridge – a front-page article on legislative redistricting published on August 18 – might be the poster child for dry-but-important journalism. It’s a thoroughly reported piece on a complicated topic, and Odum even wrangled a quote from one of his frequent punching bags, former Vermont Republican Party chairman Rob Roper. Odum once called Roper a “wingnut” on GMD.  

Odum’s subsequent work has been of similar caliber. When Bromage again hefted his cudgel last week, I wish he had seen fit to either (a) provide examples of Odumian bias in The Bridge, or (b) admit that, so far, Odum’s doing a fine job as a “real” journalist.

Now, I will concede that hawking a politics column to Seven Days wasn’t the brightest thing Nat Frothingham has ever done. Seven Days is just about the only weekly in the state that isn’t a potential market for such a column, being the home of the Peter Freyne Memorial Chair In Journalistic Advocacy And Advocacy Journalism. But there’s absolutely nothing sinister about a small weekly trying to make a little money by selling something of value for a fair price. Nor is there a threat to Vermont’s journalistic purity in having John Odum write that column. Let it thrive or perish on its merits. (Or is Bromage afraid of a little competition, hmm?)

And if anyone should be embarrassed to don the mantle of Journalistic Guardian, it oughta be Seven Days. I like the paper, I read it every week, but it routinely ignores the line between opinion and reportage whenever it wants to. A snarky tone is, indeed, the very signature of the Seven Days style. Taking the lead in that parade is the Freyne/Totten/Bromage political column itself — a walking, talking, flamboyant exercise in erasing the “news/opinion  line” that so concerns Bromage in his consideration of Odum’s qualifications. And yet, somehow, that column has been a valuable contributor to political discourse in Vermont.

Maybe Odum can do the same, if given the chance.

Finally, a word of advice to the current occupant of the Freyne Memorial Chair: One of the finest traits of Peter Freyne was that he trained his ire on the famous and influential. He was Jack the Giant Killer — or at least Jack the Giant Annoyer.  With all due respect to John Odum, he is a gnat on a hippo’s hiney compared to Tebbetts, Graff, Freyne, or many others who have crossed the journalism/opinion/flackery “divide” with nary a harrumph. If Andy Bromage is going to get all tetchy about standards and ethics, he should choose bigger targets.

Acknowledgments: I have a whole bagful of potential conflicts of interest here. I’m a colleague of Odum’s at GMD; I like the guy and would like to consider him a friend; I used to work for The Bridge, and I still write occasionally for the paper. On the other hand, I am a big fan and regular reader of Seven Days; I loved the work of Peter Freyne and Shay Totten, and I hope that Bromage can bring us more of the same. Dunno exactly how those factors balance out; perhaps you can evaluate this post on its merits.