BRATTLEBORO — Headline Vermont, a one-hour special for Vermont Public Television, was nominated for a New England Emmy Award.
Originally aired in the fall of 2010, the show was produced by local filmmaker Dan Lyons, co-owner of Vermont Films in Brattleboro. It covers over 200 years of Vermont's newspapers as they report on small town life and big time news and examines their future in the digital age.
The 34th Boston/New England Emmy Awards will be held on May 14.
“I was really surprised by the nomination,” said Lyons. “So often, I find myself working outside of Vermont. I think that's why researching and shooting Headline Vermont was such a satisfying experience. It was a chance not only to work in my home state, but also to tell part of its story. Having that effort recognized by an Emmy nomination just makes it that much better.”
Headline Vermont tells the story of the state's colorful newspaper industry and the bellwether events they covered. And, it's a colorful history starting way back in 1798 with the first Vermont publisher Matthew Lyon, who was also the first American prosecuted under the Sedition Act as a result of what he published.
“So much of what was printed in those early days would never make it into today's papers,” said Lyons referring to what was then known as the personals section. This was an honest, often racy, and sometimes gruesome recounting of the day-to-day news that read more like a gossip column, had the subjects been celebrities instead of average Vermonters.
With so much uncertainty in today's newspaper industry, Headline Vermont also takes on the question of the industry's future.
“Hyperlocal news,” predicts Lyons. “That's what will keep the papers going in small towns and cities.” To illustrate the point, Brattleboro's local weekly The Commons is profiled along with Seven Days, Burlington's weekly. Both papers focus almost exclusively on local stories and feature citizen journalists alongside seasoned reporters.
Though a 15-year veteran of television, this Emmy nomination is a first for Lyons.
A television producer and cinematographer, he has shot and produced shows for National Geographic, PBS, Discovery Channel, The Smithsonian Institution, and the History Channel, among others.