This story by Jenny Blair was first published in The Bridge on March 10.
State lawmakers introduced a bill that would require the state government to spend more of its advertising money with Vermont news organizations. House Bill H.244, “An act relating to State contracting standards for advertising,” would direct more state ad dollars to local print, digital, radio, and television outlets.
“We are asking only that the state of Vermont practice what it preaches and buy local,” said Paul Heintz on Feb. 26 in testimony to the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs.
Heintz, VTDigger’s former editor-in-chief, spoke from his new role at the University of Vermont Community News Service, and represented a coalition of Vermont news organizations, including The Bridge.
The ads in question relate to the lottery, unclaimed property, sports betting, and health advisories on topics such as extreme temperatures, COVID, or smoking.
The state may be sending millions out of state for such ads, including to tech giants Google, Facebook, and X, according to Heintz.
“Why would Vermont spend its limited resources on these Silicon Valley corporations when it could invest that money instead in news outlets in Milton, Manchester, and Randolph?” Heintz asked.
He called H.244 a modest, Vermont-scale solution that wouldn’t radically reshape the state advertising process.
The bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Chea Waters Evans (D-Chittenden 5), a former local journalist, and Barbara Rachelson (D-Chittenden 14), who called it a win-win — in part because it lacks a price tag.
“It’s spending our money wisely,” Rachelson said.
Seven Days publisher Cathy Resmer noted in her testimony, “Vermonters understand why it makes sense to buy food from local farms or products from local businesses, and we need that to extend to local advertising channels as well.”
Greening news deserts
When the state wants to reach Vermonters, Heintz said, local news organizations are best positioned to help.
“Vermonters listen to our stations on the road. They watch our newscasts at night. They read our papers when they arrive in the mail or at the local store. Some, including probably some people in this room, even hit the refresh button on our websites multiple times a day,” Heintz said. “We are the ones prepared to deliver life-saving information during floods. We’re the ones fact-checking information, covering local select board meetings, and letting folks know what’s up for discussion on Town Meeting day.”
But the industry faces a decades-long crisis of revenue and job losses. The nation’s newspapers have lost over half of newsroom employees since 2004, according to testimony by Lori Henson of the nonpartisan nonprofit Rebuild Local News.
In the last 25 years, Vermont has lost 75% of its newspaper jobs, according to Heintz. Four Vermont newspapers closed between 2023 and 2024 alone, according to a Northwestern University study.
“When a news organization closes, voting rates decline, municipal borrowing costs go up, government waste increases, citizens tend to feel less connected to their communities. Political polarization goes up when everything in the news is nationalized,” Henson said.
“Knowing that, as we lose journalists and local news outlets, more and more people will turn to Facebook and TikTok for their news is definitely of concern,” Rachelson told the committee.
Surviving outlets struggle with inadequate resources to cover local and statewide issues such as taxes, healthcare, and schools. Capturing ad dollars that would otherwise leave the state would help.
“On its own, H.244 will not solve the crisis facing local news,” Heintz said. “But we believe that every dollar counts, and we don’t have any time to waste.”
A look at state ad spending
State government ad spending in fiscal 2024 was roughly $7.5 million, estimated April Barton of UVM’s Center for Research on Vermont, who said she requested detailed information with limited success. So the total was likely an undercount, Heintz said.
Vermont vendors accounted for about $4.5 million, or 61%, Barton said. The rest of the money left the state.
The bill would require that the in-state percentage rise to 80%. To enable that accounting and to improve transparency, it would also require the state to report annually how it spends ad dollars.
Out-of-state spending could continue for ads aimed at faraway audiences, such as for tourism.
If H.244 becomes law, Vermont would lead the nation in adopting this approach, according to Henson.
“It recognizes local news as an essential public good,” she said. “It’s an innovative and I think a very hopeful policy approach.”
Disclosure: VTDigger, along wither other Vermont media outlets, has been involved with the effort to ask the state to advertise more with local publishers.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Vermont news media ask the state to buy local.