Vermont will prioritize local media outlets when it considers where to spend millions of dollars in advertising revenue annually, Gov. Phil Scott announced on Thursday.
Scott signed an executive order instructing all state departments to give preference to local print, digital, radio and television stations “whenever feasible and in the best interests of the state” when buying ads. The order excludes tourism ads, which are largely focused on out-of-state media markets.
Scott said he hoped the order would strengthen local media outlets, especially in rural areas that lack coverage of important issues.
“I truly believe that a responsible, impartial press corps, making sure people in all corners of the state know what’s happening, is essential,” he said at a press conference in Montpelier.
The order is consistent with existing state rules for prioritizing the purchase of various goods and services from in-state vendors, he said.
“I’ve always been a supporter of ‘buying local’ and that’s just as important for local newspapers and stations as it is for our local hardware stores or farms,” Scott said.
The order notes that the way people consume news is changing, forcing traditional Vermont news outlets to scale back operations or to shutter. The state lost 53 percent of its journalists between 2013 and 2023 — more than 400 jobs, according to a study by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
The order does not require any state agency to purchase ads in local media, merely to prioritize it.
“The news industry here faces the same economic and technical and headwinds as elsewhere,” Kristen Fountain, interim coordinator for the Vermont Journalism Coalition, said at the press conference.
The state is lucky to still have about 50 local media outlets, she said, that “have persevered due to their creativity, determination, and the very hard work of their owners, leaders and staff.”
The order is similar to a bill introduced in the legislature in 2025 that passed the House but not the Senate. That bill would have required 70 percent of state ad spending, excluding tourism and job ads, to go to local news outlets. The administration objected to that, however, arguing in part that they didn’t track the spending closely enough to easily comply with such a requirement.
The state typically spends about $8 million on advertising annually, about half of that on tourism ads that will be exempt, said Rebecca Kelley, chief communications officer. The order will also require her office to more closely track ad spending across state government.
Asked how the state will decide what qualifies as local journalism, Kelley quipped, “I get to decide. Bad news, for some of you.”
“Just kidding,” she added.
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