HOTP today: AI concerns, covering the worst of all news

By Guy Page on October 13, 2025

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By Guy Page

It’s Media Monday on Hot Off The Press, VDC’s radio call-in program broadcast Monday – Friday from 11:05 AM – noon on WDEV AM 550, FM 96.1, and livestreamed on wdevradio.com.

Listeners may call in anytime at 802-244-1777 to join the conversation.

In the first half hour, I will cover the weekend and Monday morning’s top headlines, and VDC columnist Alison Despathy and I will discuss her latest post warning against the ‘dumbing down’ and energy consumption downsides of AI.

In the second half hour, the Media Monday segment, listeners and I will discuss:

Covering the worst possible news – The pros and cons and rights and wrongs of sharing information following fatal accidents. On Saturday, a young Lyndon man died in a crash in which another Lyndon man was the driver. VDC dug a little deeper than the State Police press release, and discovered the two were both former standout athletes at Lyndon Institute. We also reported that the young man killed, the passenger, had a previous DUI bust.

All of this information seemed newsy and in the public interest to publish. But there’s been backlash – understandable – that it was TMI, disrespectful to the dead, and insensitive to their families.

Speaking for myself, I don’t report news solely on the theory of ‘if it bleeds, it needs.’ News has to have an element of public interest. Which in this case includes the grieving friends and families, but also includes the unseen, unknown number of people who might conclude that the next time they’re tempted to drive drunk, maybe they’ll hand the keys to someone else.

You just never know who’s listening or reading and what difference the reporting of a tragedy can make in their lives – as I found out years ago as editor of the Colchester Chronicle. I will share that story on the air today. And I hope that whatever your viewpoint, you call in and share it at 802-244-1777.

How the national news views Vermont – Thursday night, I heard Erick Erickson – host of the nationally syndicated Erick Erickson show – speak at the Vermont GOP Annual Awards dinner in South Burlington. He gave the ‘outside looking in’ view on Vermont as ‘the Bernie Sanders state’ but also acknowledged the solid gains of Republicans and the national, 100-year political realignment sweeping the country. You can see that YouTube clip elsewhere on VDC, and we’ll play a clip of it on Hot Off The Press as well.

Burlington Daily News takes a BIG step forward – Beginning this week – possibly today – much of the highly popular Burlington news on VDC and on BurlingtonDailyNews.net will be available only to VDC Sustaining Subscribers and to Burlington Daily News subscribers.

If you are already a Vermont Daily Chronicle sustaining subscriber, no problem! You will have access to al Burlington news. If you’re not, or if you are not a Burlington Daily News paid subscriber ($4 month), you won’t have access to most of the news on BDN.

Our readers inhale Burlington news. Kolby’s story about Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak claiming city administrators are underpaid and overstressed was the #1 story across all of our platforms yesterday.

News stories published on VDC will remain free for all to read. Here’s the hard truth: the more we publish, the more it costs. Click here to become a VDC sustaining subscriber.