Today is the last day in front of the cameras for long-time reporter and anchor Stewart Ledbetter. He has been a familiar face for 40 years on the Burlington-Plattsburgh NBC affiliate, with a particular focus on state politics. Ledbetter began his career at MyNBC5 in 1983 after studying economics at the University of Vermont. Ledbetter spoke with WAMC North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley about how he became a reporter and leaned on his economics background:
My father was a banker and a finance guy and he wanted me to become a banker. So we had to compromise. And I was always interested in economics and political science. And I can tell you that I sort of fell into broadcast news by accident volunteering at the campus radio station and that led to an internship in commercial radio and then a job and then a job offer from Channel 5. But I'll tell you in 40 plus years in this business, having a certain comfort level with economic principles, macro and micro economics, has been super helpful. Whether you're covering a state budget or businesses coming and going in your community or the stock market or inflation data or whatever it is having some foundation in economics has been very useful.
It seems over the 40 years that you've been at MyNBC5, WPTZ, NewsChannel 5, it's used those monikers over the years, that you have focused primarily on politics and much of that on the Vermont Statehouse. What are some of the most significant stories you remember covering?
I am very surprised as I look back at how rich the political landscape turned out to be. You know for a small state you have great access to political leaders at every level. So you get, you know, sort of an inside look that you, you know, frankly, don't get in Albany or in, you know, Austin or in Boston or in much larger states. So that's number one is the access that a political reporter has. But secondly, you know, this has been a time of incredible change. The advent of civil unions and marriage equality was something. Who saw that one coming? Cannabis legalization. That all moved through the political process. And then I had no idea that leading Vermont political leaders would run national campaigns, Howard Dean and Bernie Sanders twice, seeking the Democratic nomination for president. And I had the really eye-opening experience of following them around the country each time. And that was a thrill, exhausting, but a thrill.
Stewart Ledbetter, do you remember the first story you ever did?
I do. I do. The story was about untreated wastewater and stormwater flowing from the Burlington sewage treatment plant into Lake Champlain. And I was astonished that this was happening. And 40 years later we are still reading about this sort of thing. Now, it's not quite as bad or as unfiltered as it was in that first story, but it remains a real challenge up and down Lake Champlain. And I just find it ironic that the very first story I did could also be a story I do today.
Stewart, what are some of the major stories that really stand out in your memory that you covered over the years?
Ah, well, the Dannemora prison escape. That's certainly etched into my cranium. The difficulty that the Plattsburgh region faced when BRACC (Base Realignment and Closure Committee) voted to close the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. That was real economic upheaval. I remember the crash of the Amtrak Montrealer which killed several people and injured dozens and dozens. So one Saturday morning at dawn, when the tracks washed out because of beavers, as I recall. You know, I'd never seen a train crash and let me tell you they are mangled and it's a violent scene. You never forget that. But then there was fun stuff. Meeting some famous people along the way. I mean, I got to meet Bono from U2 covering a political convention. And I got to meet one of my comic heroes, Lily Tomlin, who came to town to perform at the Flynn Center one night and she gave us an interview that was just so gracious and unpretentious and she's brilliant. There are all sorts of people that you meet. Strangely, though Pat, one of the stories that I remember, I'll just never forget, was a young woman, a young couple actually, who were facing her cystic fibrosis diagnosis and they invited me to chronicle their effort to have her get a double lung transplant. And to see that kind of agony up close and to be able to report that personal story, years and years later, she did not survive ultimately. But I'll never forget that personal story and the trust that they demonstrated by letting me tell what was a pretty, you know, it was a pretty tough time for them. But it also allowed me to convey what cystic fibrosis was and the state of research and the need to raise money to find some kind of a more effective treatment. Sometimes we see people on their worst day, you know, when we have had a soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan and you have to go and talk to their loved ones. It's very tough. I mean we're human like anybody else. And those those stories really stick with you. You try to be decent and be gentle and respect things when they say I just can't do this right now. So we see the highs and the lows over time in this business. I could tell you one funny little story. I was on the radio, and they asked me what was your biggest blooper? And I said, well I don't really. I managed a whole career without saying a bad word on a hot mic. And I'm very proud of that! Because hot mics have ended careers unceremoniously we know. But there was one very close call in 2009 when the Crown Point Bridge or the Champlain Bridge, whichever you want to call it, was deemed to have been unsafe and in December of 2009 the demolitions experts were there to basically blow it up and build a new one. And that morning, I was over on the Vermont side where the governor was going to flip the switch and blow up the bridge. And just before it was snowing and it was hard to see. And I didn't see the wire that was going up to his little box that he was going to push the button and blow the bridge. And I tripped on the wire. And I thought dear God I am going to blow up this bridge prematurely and it will all be my fault. And fortunately that didn't happen. But Governor (Jim) Douglas was not happy with me.
Stewart Ledbetter will return this fall as a political contributor for the station. He has won numerous honors for his reporting including regional Emmys and a national Edward R. Murrow award. He was inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2019.
