Graff Gone as AP Bureau Chief

Darren Allen of the Vermont Press Bureau reports that Chris Graff, the AP Bureau Chief in Montpelier, has been fired by the Associated Press.

Although a shocking turn of events on the Vermont press scene, which apparently even took Graff by surprise, the mere fact that Darren Allen, the bureau chief of a competitor news organization got the exclusive, may be one of the reasons Graff was let go. As so often is the case, the VPB beat both the AP and the BFP to the punch on a major story. Because Graff was caught unaware of his own impending demise, it appears Allen beat the AP on its own story...Yikes!

And given that Graff has written few hard news stories in recent years focusing his efforts writing commentary on Vermont's political battles, like the recent Cashman affair where Graff wrote a piece defending Judge Cashman, and hosting "Vermont This Week" on VPT, Graff seemed to have other priorities. The AP Bureau in Montpelier struggles as a credible news source and we openly wonder if the powers at the AP finally recognized this as well.

Go to Darren's article at:

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060321/NEWS/603210346/1002