Four top politicians in Vermont -- the state's governor, both federal senators and a congressman -- have called for the reinstatement of former AP Vermont bureau chief Christopher Graff and an explanation of why he was fired in the first place.

Editors in the state also want an explanation, and Graf offered a few words on a public TV show he hosts. (H/Ts to Morgan W. Brown)

An excerpt from the Vermont Guardian:

In their letter to AP CEO Tom Curley, U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-VT,
and Jim Jeffords, I-VT, U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, and Gov. Jim
Douglas, a Republican, ask that Graff be reinstated "if that is what
he would want."

"There have been many reports suggesting the reasons for Mr. Graff's
abrupt termination. Although we choose not to fuel speculation, we
believe that if any of these reports were founded, it would represent
a serious breach of trust by AP with its loyal Vermont readership. If
AP wants to repair this rift, it must work to clear the air — to let
the sunshine in — on this most unfortunate conclusion."

The letter also asks AP for "answers to questions that continue to
proliferate in the wake of this decision." ...

Graff was fired in person by his immediate supervisor, Larry Laughlin,
bureau chief at AP's northern New England bureau in Concord, NH.

Laughlin, and AP officials in New York, have declined to say what
prompted Graff's dismissal. Graff has also declined extensive comment,
saying he signed a nondisclosure agreement.

Editors at several Vermont papers, who are members of AP, say that an
op-ed piece penned by Leahy on the AP news wire was recalled earlier
this month after it was sent out to papers by the Vermont bureau as
part of its editorial package focusing on Sunshine Week. Sunshine Week
is a time when the news media focuses on issues related to the
public's right to know and open government.

Here's the full text of the letter:

March 24, 2006
Mr. Thomas A. Curley
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Associated Press
450 W. 33rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10001

Along with our Vermont constituents, we are stunned, outraged and
saddened by the summary dismissal this week of longtime head of AP's
Vermont Bureau, Chris Graff.

We send this letter without Mr. Graff's consent or even his knowledge,
and he probably would have asked us not to send it if we had asked.
But the prominence of this position, the importance of AP to our state
and its communities, and the poor treatment of a prominent and
respected Vermont journalist of Chris Graff's caliber make this a
matter that we cannot ignore or passively accept. We realize that The
Associated Press is a private, member-owned newsgathering service, but
AP's vital presence in Vermont, as across the nation, clearly propels
this decision into the realm of public interest and concern. The
public has placed its trust in AP and, in turn, the public expects a
degree of openness from AP that has not been forthcoming. Accordingly,
we expect a substantive response to our requests.

As news subjects ourselves, we have not always enjoyed or agreed with
AP's coverage decisions — the same can be said by any frequent news
subjects about the news organizations that regularly cover them — but
we agree that, by any appropriate measure, Mr. Graff has been fair,
objective, public-spirited, courageous and dedicated to the public's
right to know the truth. He has been a tremendous credit to AP in
Vermont and beyond. It was completely natural, for instance, when
Vermont Public Television selected Mr. Graff more than a decade ago to
be the permanent moderator of public television's two leading
Vermont-wide public affairs programs.

There have been many reports suggesting the reasons for Mr. Graff's
abrupt termination. Although we choose not to fuel speculation, we
believe that if any of these reports were founded, it would represent
a serious breach of trust by AP with its loyal Vermont readership. If
AP wants to repair this rift, it must work to clear the air — to let
the sunshine in — on this most unfortunate conclusion.

We support Chris Graff's immediate reinstatement, if that is what he
would want. Beyond that, we also ask for answers to questions that
continue to proliferate in the wake of this decision.

Chris Graff is the personification of the great attributes of good
journalism: professionalism, courage, steadiness, and public service
by honoring the public's right to know. We would like to believe that
attributes like these, lived day-to-day by devoted reporters like
Chris Graff, will never go out of style.

Sincerely,
PATRICK LEAHY, U.S. Senate
JIM JEFFORDS, U.S. Senate
BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. House of Representative
JIM DOUGLAS, Governor

And here's some excerpt from the Valley News story:

Several editors and publishers in Vermont yesterday called for The
Associated Press to explain publicly why the not-for-profit news
cooperative has fired its chief correspondent in Montpelier.

"I don't see how anyone could be satisfied with their response.
Absolutely not," said Emerson Lynn, publisher of the St. Albans
Messenger. "The ironies in this are just overwhelming … you're talking
about an incident involving Sunshine Week, transparency, openness,
something the AP is not being." ...

Although AP maintains strict neutrality in its reporting -- in a news
story, the wire service would have sought White House comment on
Leahy's sharp criticism -- several prominent journalists in the state
said they saw no basis for Graff to be fired. They also said that AP
had run a piece by Leahy during last year's Sunshine Week without any
resulting controversy.

"I was flabbergasted when I was told this was going on. I thought it
was a joke," Marselis Parsons, the news director and anchorman for
WCAX-TV, the largest station in Vermont, said of Graff's dismissal. "I
think if there is more to it (than the Leahy column), they owe their
members -- not just clients, we are members, damn it, of a cooperative
-- a more rational explanation."

"I think the whole thing (stinks)," added Mark M. Smith, the publisher
of the St. Johnsbury-based Caledonian-Record, which is more
conservative than other papers in the state. "I think Chris got
screwed."

Smith said he believes that the decision to fire Graff came from "some
boneheads in New York," where AP is headquartered, not from Laughlin.

"The New York mentality of the upper echelons of AP does not belong in
the state of Vermont, or New Hampshire," Smith said.

Lynn said he and several of his colleagues plan to send a letter to AP
"expressing our alarm and concern" about the situation, and that many
would like to see Graff reinstated. ...

Asked about the discontent among several Vermont editors and
publishers, New York-based AP spokesman Jack Stokes yesterday said he
could not comment.

"We consider this a personnel issue, so we're not talking publicly
about it," Stokes said.

Some editors said they did not feel AP was obligated to provide more
information, noting that the wire service was constrained by
employment law.

"Privacy issues are privacy issues. You get sued for disclosing"
personnel matters, said Mike Townsend, executive editor of the
Burlington Free Press, Vermont's largest newspaper. "I don't think
there is a higher standard, just because it's AP. You certainly want
to know what went on, but Chris Graff could clear this up right away"
by discussing the situation publicly.

Here is what Graff said as he signed off Vermont This Week on Vermont Public Television:

Finally, tonight, a personal note. As many of you have heard or read,
as of Monday of this week, I no longer work for the Associated Press.
It has been difficult, after twenty-seven-and-a-half years of covering
the news for the AP, to find myself making it instead. Even more
ironically, considering how often over the years I have been
frustrated by someone's "no comment," I am unable at the moment, for
legal reasons, to comment on the circumstances of my departure.

However, I can say that my family and I have been overwhelmed and
deeply touched by all the people who have responded with support and
who have had such nice things to say about my work over the years.

That work will continue - on this program for instance. For three
decades it has been an honor to tell the story of Vermont and the
stories of Vermonters to a regional, national, and sometimes
international audience and I feel blessed.