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quinnbeast t1_j8rd7qr wrote

This is just Gannett homogenizing local news. It’s small town story, it doesn’t matter to them which town it’s from because they only had to pay one reporter. Evening newscasts have done this for decades. I wouldn’t line a birdcage with BFP. Check out VT Digger. Seven Days. FPF. Hell, even this sub.

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VermontArmyBrat OP t1_j8rejh5 wrote

I don’t read or pay BFP. I used to, back in the day. I do get their daily email (along with seven days, VTDigger and VPR); I track them all for work.

I used to follow all of the local tv news channels on Twitter for work. I had to shut that shit down a while back as they all started tweeting out nonstop crap that, more often than not, is not local. Usually with nice short clickbait titles.

I still follow local reporters, which can also be annoying because since they are real people often involves their pets, kids, vaccinations etc.

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Kitchen_Nail_6779 t1_j8rh4ra wrote

The Free Press has turned into a joke of a "newspaper". The "news" in that paper is 2-3 days old. It's actually pretty pointless having a subscription.

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j8rinad wrote

I removed the bookmark I had the the BFP quite a few years ago. That was the last time I have ever been to their site. Having said that though oddly enough and related Whitesnake played a county fair in N.NH last year. The last time I had heard of them was that fire. Figured that had been the end of them.

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Real-Pierre-Delecto2 t1_j8rjokx wrote

TBF if you were an adult back then it was a huge story all across New England what around 100 people died from that fire all over not just one small town. It's pretty fucked to call what happened a small town story. In four days it would have been 20 years ago and most certainly a few of those victims were Vermonter's.

BFP still sucks though.

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whaletacochamp t1_j8rsw1o wrote

Kinda like how WCAX just posts clickbait national news articles now.

"Kentucky infant drop box used within seconds of opening!"

Cool WCAX

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MontyoftheFuture t1_j8rthom wrote

Yes. 100 people killed at a Great White concert. It was a very big deal. Actually, it’s relevant here because stuff like this impacts local building codes. Also, these people didn’t live far from us. The fact that this isn’t a Vermont story is a different issue than the fact that BFP has come to truly suck.

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No-Ganache7168 t1_j8rvg0e wrote

Haven’t read it in years. First they fired all but a few reporters. Then they hired an editor who thought it was ok to not report on violent crimes and wrote an editorial about it that was on their website for a year

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_twentytwo_22 t1_j8s5aqj wrote

Like all newspapers everywhere, you get what you pay for. And we all know it ain't like it used to be when it comes to people consuming newspapers. I mean how many here pay for a daily newspaper?

But as mentioned elsewhere here, this story is relevant when it comes to fire safety regardless of jurisdiction.

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likeahurricane t1_j8saq3z wrote

My step-brother got married in Rhode Island on his in-laws property. The tents they put up had to have exit signs on them, even though the walls were only down on one side. I thought it was the strangest thing until I remembered that fire and assumed they made code incredibly rigorous after that.

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random_vermonter t1_j8sjc77 wrote

BFP is nothing but a “McPaper” like all of the other Gannett clones and even USA Today.

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Borkton t1_j8sy0qq wrote

That's Gannett for you.

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BothCourage9285 t1_j8tbadm wrote

So sad the state of this paper, but I do remember The Station fire was national news at the time

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BothCourage9285 t1_j8tcc5s wrote

Worst part is that for a little while, you could actually get local breaking news on their website and TWTR feed. Like if you heard sirens and saw firetrucks heading out, you could find out what was happening within a few minutes but no more. WCAX and WPTZ have just about given up as well.

Local doesn't bring in the ad revenue so they just borked the whole thing

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VermontArmyBrat OP t1_j8tjc0d wrote

Not that it helps for actual breaking news like fire calls etc, but I’ve found the best way to get local new is using Google news alerts. I use mostly for work, but I have some for my town. Put in the relevant keywords and it finds the stories for you.

And on Twitter I have alerts for various accounts like 511vt and a few news orgs (not the clickbait corporate out of state owned ones)

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VermontArmyBrat OP t1_j8tk2en wrote

Someone else mentioned how big a story it was and the fact that it may have impacted Vermonters due to not being that far away or affected building codes here. All true. But this story is specific to the state of RI and talks about towns in RI failing to properly inspect buildings in RI. Here is a link that bypasses the firewall of anyone wants to read it https://archive.ph/80QV2

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BothCourage9285 t1_j8tn2c6 wrote

Agree

BPDs Twitter feed used to actually post breaking safety/traffic information, but not anymore. Front porch forum can be good for some hyper local info as well. That is if you don't mind weeding thru all the "missing cat" posts

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Kajzi t1_j8trrvc wrote

BFP and The Providence Journal (RI newspaper) are owned by the same company.

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