New England Cable Information is closing its Vermont bureau on the finish of the yr and shedding two well-known journalists within the state.
Reporter Jack Thurston and photographer Kika Bronger will each lose their jobs on account of the closure, they wrote in separate social media posts Wednesday.
In a cellphone interview, Bronger mentioned the information was “not a whole shock” as a result of the corporate had steered adjustments had been within the works. “We thought it was going to occur subsequent yr,” she mentioned.
In a put up on Fb, Thurston mentioned it had been “an amazing honor to serve on this function as a voice of Vermont for the remainder of New England.” He wrote that he didn’t know what he would do subsequent and even the place he would stay.
“It’s clearly robust to have to depart on another person’s phrases, however because the solar units on this chapter, I’m optimistic no matter comes subsequent can be as enjoyable and as attention-grabbing as this job has been,” Thurston wrote.
NECN didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The Massachusetts-based information community is owned by NBCUniversal. In keeping with nationwide information reviews, that firm has been planning layoffs and different cuts all through its subsidiaries.
The cuts come amid a wave of layoffs at different nationwide information organizations, together with CNN, the Washington Submit and Gannett.
Bronger mentioned she was knowledgeable on Nov. 9 — the day after the midterm elections — that NECN could be closing its Vermont bureau.
Bronger and Thurston have labored side-by-side in NECN’s Vermont bureau for 11 years, however the two first met one another when Thurston was Bronger’s intern at WCAX-TV.
“It’s sort of humorous. So I taught him every part he is aware of,” Bronger mentioned. “There’s at all times a solution to make a narrative attention-grabbing in Jack’s world, and I like that. He at all times cares. … I believe I improved as a photographer as a result of it is a collaboration.”
Bronger mentioned she would miss driving throughout Vermont and assembly Vermonters. She mentioned she doesn’t have plans lined up however needs to do one thing with video — although switching to a very totally different subject and studying a brand new commerce isn’t out of the query for her.
“I can not look forward to what’s subsequent. You realize, it is the primary time in 25 years that my future can be open, you recognize. It’s a bit scary,” Bronger mentioned. “However I’m embracing the change.”
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