Ah, Vermont Public Radio. Home of the Endless Fundraising Buffet, and of the abundant (by Vermont media standards) newsroom workforce Your Pledge Dollars help pay for. Well, apparently VPR’s having some trouble finding news on its own. Of itself that’s not surprising, since VPR newscasts and long-form pieces are often reheated versions of stuff already reported by other media outlets.
But now it’s sunk to a new low by turning to Vermont’s newest, weakest, and most astroturfy “media outlet,” Vermont Watchdog. As previously discussed in this space, Vermont Watchdog is one of a nationwide string of cookie-cutter news operations paid for by the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a North Dakota-based organization that’s part of the Koch Brothers/Americans for Prosperity/ALEC collection of far-right advocacy groups. And that frequently partners with journalistic disgrace James O’Keefe to train a new generation of plausibly journalistic propaganda artistes.
VW’s sole staffer is one Jon Street, although the lion’s share of VW postings are actually written by some guy who lives in Vienna, Austria.
Well, VPR has begun to pick up and echo some of Watchdog’s meager and misleading offerings. It’s only happened twice so far; but that’s twice in the last few days, and it shouldn’t go any farther.
It began with Street’s maiden voyage as VW’s Vermont Bureau, an odd little story about Vermont’s ban on “happy hour” promotions at bars and restaurants. I say “odd” because, as far as I know, this story kinda came out of nowhere*. And, well, also “odd” because Mr. Street is a graduate of the very, very Christian and very, very dry Missouri Baptist University, which don’t allow no drinkin’ or smokin’ or foolin’ around or hand-holdin’.
*The idea of lifting happy-hour restrictions has previously been floated by free-market slash libertarian-oriented “advocacy groups.” I’m guessing Mr. Street trolled through the Cato Institute archives in search of something he could apply to his new gig.
But apparently Vermont’s getting to him, because his first VW article boosted the idea of cheap, readily available alcohol. Yes, happy hour as an economic stimulus program.
It should have ended right there, but apparently VPR is hard-up for ideas: Street’s artificially created “controversy” was the basis for an extensive interview on Monday’s Vermont Edition with state Liquor Control honcho Bill Goggins, who’d represented the state’s side in Street’s article.
VPR then continued its bout of Vermont Watchdog dumpster-diving with a piece entitled “National Group Flunks State for Court Justices’ Financial Disclosure.” It reported on a study by the Center for Public Integrity, which is an honest-to-God actual public-interest nonprofit. Last week, CPI released a study of financial-disclosure requirements for judges in the 50 states, and found the vast majority sadly lacking. To be precise, 43 of the 50 states got an “F” grade.
Maybe VPR got the story from a CPI press release, but the study’s first appearance in the Vermont media was, yep, at Vermont Watchdog. Its Mitteleuropean correspondent, Yael Ossowski, left off the part about Vermont tying for last with 42 other states and simply reported that “Vermont gets a big, fat ‘F,'” and that Vermont “ranks one of the worst in the country.”
Yeah, one of the 42 worst.
Well, five days after Ossowski’s post, here comes the VPR piece. Which tells the story more fairly than Ossowski, noting (in the fourth paragraph) that “Vermont and more than 40 other states received an ‘F’ grade.” I guess it was easier to say “more than 40 other states” than it was to simply say “42.” That’s what they pay all them editors for.
Unlike the happy-hour story, the CPI study is actually worth reporting. (Although I’d argue it has more impact when reported as a national story, and would have been better done by NPR.) But it’s troubling that VPR is resorting to the likes of Vermont Watchdog in search of story ideas.
I hope VPR doesn’t become a convenient echo chamber for VW’s concern trolling; it can, and should, do much better than that.
was briefed that he was heading to the Craft-brew Capital & may also be aware that drinking is a favored pastime as well as a hobby in VT & picked a story which would ingratiate him into VTs customs & heritage while upholding free-market principles. If so, a nice touch.
He certainly can’t stand in the way of the principles of the vaunted free market. Freemarket rides again. A good Christan can drive a steamroller just as good as any hellbound sinner.
On campus that is.
They have access to the same news sources as everyone else, but pick and choose what and when they choose to use.
It didn’t necessarily come directly from a reading of Vermont Watchdog. You may be giving Ossowski more credit than he deserves, which I am certain is not your intention!
On the other side of the VPR roster, today they featured a story about funding unravelling for ALEC, with plenty of details about their extreme right wing agenda, that was anything but a story that Ossowski would have liked!
I’ve had my moments of disappointment with VPR, too, but I like to cut them a little slack on the small stuff.
The Happy Hour thing was Ossowski’s supremely silly debut and it’s not surprising VPR picked it up for that reason alone. Silly sells, and VPR is not above pandering.