Vermont Public Radio’s Bob Kinzel is totally a Negative Nancy.

At least, that’s the conclusion a Washington, D.C. consulting firm drew in April after the state of Vermont paid the company $18,000 for intel on reporters covering the roll-out of the state’s new health care exchange.

The Vermont Press Bureau’s Peter Hirschfeld had the details in a shocking Sunday story in the Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus outlining the lengths to which Gov. Peter Shumlin’s administration has gone to manipulate press coverage of the exchange, called Vermont Health Connect.

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Paul Heintz was part of the Seven Days news team from 2012 to 2020. He served as political editor and wrote the "Fair Game" political column before becoming a staff writer.

4 replies on “Morning Read: State Pays D.C. Firm for Vermont Media Intel”

  1. Anyone who’s surprised by anything Peter Shumlin does probably shouldn’t be allowed to vote . . .

  3. Whether you like the exchange or not, this story brings to light a very disturbing issue… The government gave VT millions of dollars in grant money, for what? Not for lowering the cost of insurance for Vermonters, not for providing dental care, not for providing vision coverage, but to manipulate the media… to influence Vermonters…
    Look, we have to borrow money everyday to run this government.. in Vermont every year we need a new tax and yet we piss away money left and right. The worst part is it’s OUR money they are stealing to better determine how to brainwash the masses.
    I’m all for paying taxes and allowing the government to spend those taxes, but in an efficient and responsible way. This just reeks of the back door meetings and general sliminess of Shumlin and DGA recently.
    TERM LIMITS !!!

  4. Googling the search terms “GMMB vermont” (without quote marks), I came across this item from 2007 (via the now defunct Vermont Guardian):
    http://www.vermontguardian.com…
    For the sake of comparison, it would be rather interesting to also be able to read as well as examine the contract the state made with GMMB as well as related documents from back then as well.

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