F-35 harm gets news coverage

VTDigger and WCAX included F-35 in their coverage of first Burlington mayoral forum

While most local news media outlets omitted coverage, to their credit, VTDigger and WCAX covered the Progressive Party candidate forum Wednesday and included some of the remarks by mayoral candidates Max Tracy and Brian Pine critical of F-35 training flights in a populated area. The F-35 issue was among the first issues raised in questions submitted by audience members at the candidate forum that focused on environmental justice.

Both Pine and Tracy spoke passionately of the severe negative impact the F-35 training flights are having, especially on low income and BIPOC populations, and of their strong opposition to further F-35 training flights at Burlington’s airport.

What may be effective to improve local news coverage are calls and emails to reporters, news editors, or publishers politely requesting coverage of the pain, injury, and distress you are experiencing from F-35 flights in a city. Especially if you offer a bit of description of the harm you or your children are experiencing from hundreds of F-35 training flights each month near your home.

The F-35 training flights in a densely populated area are causing severe pain and distress: More than 500 people answered questions and wrote in their own words about the harm they are experiencing from the extreme F-35 noise in online forms this spring and again this summer. To see those first hand reports, check out the online F-35 Summer Report and Complaint Form.

Two more opportunities for news media coverage are this week when the Progressive Party holds forums with Burlington mayoral candidates Tracy and Pine: on Wednesday November 18 at 6 pm the focus will be on social and racial justice. Stream this forum here. On Thursday November 19 at 6 pm the focus will be on economic justice. Stream this forum here.

If you catch either of these events please consider submitting a few words about your own exposure to the F-35 or a question relating the F-35 to the focus of the discussion.