Courtney Lamdin, Scott Finn and Sima Bhowmik step into new roles at the growing organization
Vermont Business Magazine The Center for Community News at UVM has announced three new and expanded roles for its Burlington-based team as the organization continues to grow its ambitions here in Vermont and across the country.
Courtney Lamdin joined CCN in January as CCN's Community News Service editor. Courtney was most recently a staff writer at Seven Days, covering politics, policy and public safety in Burlington. An award-winning journalist, her work has been recognized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association and the Vermont Press Association. She also serves on a committee with the New England First Amendment Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for transparency in government. Courtney studied journalism at Saint Michael's College and got her start as a reporter and editor for three weekly newspapers in Chittenden County. In her new role, which is made possible by funding from the UVM College of Arts and Sciences, she will work directly with student reporters and help manage CCN’s growing partnerships with Vermont news outlets.
Scott Finn’s role at CCN expanded in 2026 as UVM’s first ever lecturer of journalism and democracy, in the Department of Sociology. Scott has worked closely with CCN Director Richard Watts and Managing Director Meg Little Reilly over the past two years to refine the organization's journalism education offerings at UVM and CCN’s national programming, including management of the Faculty Champions initiative. Before joining the organization, Scott served as president and CEO of Vermont Public, and prior to that as executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting. He spent 12 years as an award-winning reporter for The Charleston Gazette, West Virginia Public Broadcasting and WUSF in Tampa, Florida. In his new role, Scott will lead CCN’s journalism education offerings and its student-powered statewide newsroom, the Community News Service.
Sima Bhowmik has been hired as research assistant professor in the Department of Sociology after a prolific 17 months as CCN’s first post-doctoral research fellow. Sima’s focus is on understanding the structure of university-led student reporting programs and their influence on addressing news desert across the U.S. Her portfolio of work has examined media sociology and the evolution of journalism practice and news production. She is particularly interested in how new technologies, government regulations, and public policy impact the work of journalists and shape news production. Sima’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as Media, Culture and Society; Digital Journalism; Journalism Practice; Newspaper Research Journal; International Communication Research Journal; and beyond. Sima earned her PhD in Journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2024.
The Center for Community News at UVM is a nonpartisan nonprofit working to create a more sustainable future for news and information. It serves Vermonters by providing trustworthy local reporting to news partners across the state as part of UVM’s land grant promise. And it operates at the national level by growing and strengthening student-powered reporting at colleges across the country. CCN began as an experiential internship in the College of Arts and Sciences, which illuminated the demand from students and news partners to think creatively about solving community news challenges. With the support of Dean William Falls, CCN was established as the first and only organization devoted to building the field of university-led community reporting.
“CCN is an example of what’s possible when we match student passions with faculty expertise and civic needs,” said Dean Falls. “We are proud to continue to support this timely work in the College of Arts and Sciences.”
The organization has had a remarkably productive run since its establishment in 2022. Its Vermont-based newsroom, the Community News Service, now produces roughly 400 original stories each year for partner outlets across the state. More than 100 students participate over the course of three semesters as print, photo, video and audio reporters; student researchers; and data visualization interns. (You can read more about CCN’s goals and accomplishments in the 2025 Impact Report.)
Looking ahead, CCN has a number of ambitious projects on deck for 2026, starting with the transition to a news-sharing platform for its partner outlets in Vermont. The organization continues to expand its journalism offerings for UVM students and to forge collaborations with faculty and departments across the institution. The recent appointments of Dr. Sima Bhowmik and Scott Finn are an example of its growing collaborations.
“Partnership with the Center for Community News integrates study of the news media into our classes and our research,” said Dr. Jennifer Strickler, chair of the Sociology Department. “This partnership provides a great opportunity for the Sociology Department’s faculty and students to serve the Vermont community.”
At the national level, CCN will dramatically grow its Faculty Champions mentorship program to more than 140 participants in 2026, and it has a robust schedule of trainings, events, and academic research scheduled over the course of the year.
“Communities need reliable sources of local information more than ever today – and students want to do work that matters,” said Director Richard Watts. “We are grateful to have such a strong team of dedicated individuals working toward this common goal.”
About CCN
The Center for Community News at UVM is a nonpartisan nonprofit that is working to grow and strengthen university-led reporting programs around the country, to create a more sustainable future for local news outlets and the communities they serve.
About the University of Vermont
Since 1791, the University of Vermont has worked to move humankind forward. UVM’s strengths align with the most pressing needs of our time: the health of our societies and the health of our environment. Our size—large enough to offer a breadth of ideas, resources, and opportunities, yet intimate enough to enable close faculty-student mentorship across all levels of study—allows us to pursue these interconnected issues through cross-disciplinary research and collaboration. Providing an unparalleled educational experience for our students, and ensuring their success, are at the core of what we do. As one of the nation’s first land grant universities, UVM advances Vermont and the broader society through the discovery and application of new knowledge. UVM is derived from the Latin Universitas Viridis Montis (in English, University of the Green Mountains).
Check out the 2025 Impact Report
Learn more about the Center for Community News
In communities across the U.S., student journalists now provide millions of people with trustworthy, professional local news coverage. Our mission is to grow and support partnerships between college reporting programs and local news outlets. Join us at https://www.uvm.edu/ccn
Burlington, VT – The Center for Community News at UVM
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