The petition itself is two pages of single-spaced text full of expressed beliefs, unsupported predictions, and assertions of fact without sources for independent verification. Its promoters presented it at a press conference on October 25, claiming that it had 10,471 signatures, without saying how they were counted, sorted for residency, or check for duplication. There was no need, as Vermont media reported the petition uncritically, as presented:
- Vermont Public Radio's (VPR) Kirk Carapezza posted online headline: "Vt. Business Leaders Collect 11,000 Signatures to Support F35 [sic] Basing" over a story that that not only accepted the deceptive premise that the F-35 and VTANG are interchangeable, but also repeated unsupported attacks on critics of the F-35 whose critiques have yet to be refuted.
- WPTZ similarly touted: "Vt. Business leaders show support for F-35s -- 11,000 signatures gathered." WPTZ goes on to describe the actual substance of the petition as a Vermont Public Radio report.
- Seven Days' Andy Bromage had a story headed: "Business Leaders Accuse F-35 Opponents of "Fear Mongering," Deliver 10,000 Petitions [sic] in support of Fighter Plane." Most of his article repeats the unsupported assertions of the promoters at face value. Only in the final paragraphs does he note that the opponents have "credibility," without giving any of them a chance to speak, never mind put the "fear mongering" label where it belongs.
- The Burlington Free Press story by Lynn Monty was headed "F-35 support petition thousands strong" and offered only the opinions of the petition supporters, including the easily checked false assertion that the Air Force impact study was "a boiler plate document that was not specific to our area." .
Several reports attributed opinions to opponents that were, in fact, findings by the Air Force in its impact report.
None of the media identified their inherent conflicts of interest, since the sponsors of the petition also represented advertisers or, as with VPR, the advertisers called "underwriters."
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