Huge opportunity for Burlington local news media! To not report!!!
Local Burlington news media has been hugely successful at missing every opportunity to report on the devastating effect of hundreds of F-35 flights each month in a city!
Huge opportunity for Burlington local news media! To not report!!!
Both Progressive Mayoral Candidates came out strongly against F-35 in populated area.
This fact provides a huge opportunity for Burlington local news media! To not report it!!!
The local Burlington news media has been hugely successful at missing every opportunity to report on the devastating effect of the hundreds of F-35 flights each month in the most densely populated part of Vermont amidst 3 cities and 2 towns.
The Progressive Party mayoral candidate forum tonight just provided yet another opportunity for the local news media to not report on the terrible effects of the F-35 in a city!
Both Max Tracy and Brian Pine 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.
The airport is located in the densely populated Chamberlin School neighborhood of the City of South Burlington. Flights take off and land low over densely populated areas of the cities of Winooski and Burlington and of the towns of Williston and Colchester. The Air Force said the F-35 flights would disproportionately impact low income and minority populations. The Air Force also said that 6,663 people live in the F-35's oval shaped extreme noise area which the Air Force said is “generally not suitable for residential use.”
No local news media reports have mentioned the extent of pain, injury, and distress the F-35 training flights are actually causing. Unmentioned has been the fact that over 500 people have reported their experience with F-35 jets using an online report and complaint form. Nor has any local news media reported on a complaint to the Vermont National Guard inspector general and to the governor that over 650 people signed on to a few weeks ago.
If the past is indicative of future, no local news media will say much about the positions taken on the F-35 flights by both Progressive candidates at tonight’s forum.
The militarization of Vermont and the growth of the military-industrial complex in the state appear to be off limits for local news media. Except, of course, for stories almost entirely from the point of view of the military itself. Or from the point of view of the state’s top politicians, who all appear to have taken on the role of representatives of the military industrial complex.
Is there reason to hope that a reporter and news editor will step out of line and report the news: That both Progressive Party candidates for mayor came out strongly for stopping the F-35 training flights in a densely populated area? We will learn the answer in the next few hours.