Scott Finn Email & Phone Number

Burlington, Vermont, United States

I help the people who are rebuilding local journalism through coaching, mentoring, strategic planning, transition advising, and educational services.

Burlington, Vermont, Us

I help build news/academic partnerships between colleges and universities and local media organizations, especially in public media. As part of my work, I founded the Public Media Champions program, to train and support public media leaders who are building these partnerships.I also walk the talk, teaching a Univ. of Vermont class that produces impactful journalism for several local news outlets. Finally, I research and document programs that produce significant student-created journalism for local communities.

Colchester, Vt, Us

I led the merger of VPR and Vermont PBS into Vermont Public. It grew to reach more than 1 million people each month on multiple platforms, with more than 40,000 members in a state of only 643,000 people. Together, we acheived:- A new strategic plan committed to serving a broader and more diverse audience, wherever they are- A new daily online news podcast and email newsletter, “The Frequency”- Expansion of Brave Little State to more platforms and doubling the podcast output and audience- Expansion of “But Why?” from two part-time to three full-time staff, growing audience to 650,000 podcast downloads a month- Numerous national awards, including best small radio station in America in the Edward R. Murrow Awards- A new focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, including launch of the Made Here Fund, our “Homegoings” project with its brave conversations about race, and a significant increase in the Black, Indigenous and People of Color on staff- A new partnership with the University of Vermont to increase student work on our platforms and train the next generation of media professionals- A new, full-time education coordinator and education ambassadors program, greatly increasing the educational materials we provide

Colchester, Vt, Us

I helped our audience explore the whole Vermont story together as leader of VPR, a public media station with some of the highest per capita listening and member support in America.- In 2019, we won the national Edward R. Murrow Award for outstanding radio news operation.- Over the past year, we increased podcast and on-demand listening by 55 percent, and traditional broadcasting listening by 2 percent.- Over the past two years, we have grown membership, underwriting and major giving revenues over already strong levels.

Charleston, Wv, Us

I told West Virginia's story as the leader of a statewide public media network.I provided strategic direction as we transitioned from a delivery system for PBS and NPR to an indispensable resource for education, news, public safety and economic development. We raised more than $10 million per year from private and public sources, and we enjoyed the best fundraising year in our history in 2018, despite our state's recession. We launched several news initiatives, including Appalachia Health News, Ohio Valley Resource, and The West Virginia Channel.

Tampa, Florida, Us

While I was leader of Tampa's public media news station, we more than quadrupled news hits on wusf.org web site, won more awards than any large-market radio station in Florida in my final year, and acquired the successful web franchise "Health News Florida." HNF is self-sustaining through its own underwriting, with a large digital and radio audience.In collaboration with NPR and WLRN in Miami, we launched StateImpact Florida, a multimedia reporting project "putting education reform to the test." It won a national Education Writers Award in the blogging category.We also won the national Edward R. Murrow award for audio documentary, "Jumping Off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge…and Surviving.” In my own reporting for the station, I won a regional Murrow award and Florida AP awards for best investigative story of 2010.

Charleston, Wv, Us

Grew an 8-reporter team from being mainly radio-focused to a truly multi-media operation, on digital, TV and radio. Our team won several regional and national awards, including national Murrow and Peabody Awards for the audio documentary, "The Great Textbook War."

Award-winning reporting on state policy - covered statehouse, health, education, and business. National awards include the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting from the Education Writers of America, two awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Gerald Loeb Award for excellence in business reporting, and the Nancy Dickerson Whitehead Award for Excellence in Reporting on Drug and Alcohol Problems.

Us

Founded and ran family literacy AmeriCorps program. Recruited, hired and supervised 40 AmeriCorps members, who provided tutoring and family visits throughout low-income communities in southern West Virginia. Raised a budget of approximately $500,000 a year to support operations.

Washington, District Of Columbia, Us

Worked with isolated rural community to turn abandoned school into community center. Raised money and volunteers to rehabilitate building and create afterschool and summer enrichment programs for children.President Bill Clinton told our Big Ugly success story during the Fifth Anniversary AmeriCorps celebration on the White House lawn, as I received an "All-AmeriCorps Award."

Master Of Arts - Ma, Journalism

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Sociology