The Center for Community News at the University of Vermont has hired Courtney Lamdin (pictured) as Community News Service editor and Sima Bhowmik as research assistant professor, and appointed Scott Finn to the expanded role of lecturer of journalism and democracy.
Lamdin joins the center from Seven Days, where she worked as a staff writer, covering politics, policy and public safety in Burlington. Her work has been recognized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association and the Vermont Press Association. In her new role, which is made possible by funding from the UVM College of Arts and Sciences, Lamdin will work directly with student reporters and help manage CCN’s growing partnerships with Vermont news outlets.
Bhowmik was hired after serving 17 months as CCN’s first postdoctoral research fellow. Her focus is on understanding the structure of university-led student reporting programs and their influence on addressing news deserts — communities with limited access to credible, comprehensive local news and information — across the United States.
Finn becomes UVM’s inaugural lecturer of journalism and democracy, in the Department of Sociology. He now leads CCN’s journalism education offerings and its student-powered statewide newsroom, the Community News Service. Finn formerly served as president and CEO at Vermont Public and as executive director of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.