• by Ray Schultz , December 29, 2024

Associated Press will soon help create a news desert in Vermont — or rather, a journalism desert. 

Lisa Rathke, the last AP reporter focused on the state, is taking voluntary early retirement on Jan. 3, VTDigger reports. AP once had a dozen people working in Montpelier. 

But Rathke notes that AP is seeking a temporary, one-year video journalist who would be based in Montpelier or Burlington. 

“I’ve enjoyed my career immensely and working with all of you over the last quarter century,” says Rathke, who joined AP in 1998, VTDigger writes. 

Rathke will continue her journalistic career.

In November, AP that it would offer buyouts to some employees as part of an 8% staff reduction that would also include layoffs as part of a plan to become a digital-first organization. 

The buyouts were to include severance pay and partial health benefits for 18 months, AP reports.