The Community News Service (CNS) is a student-powered UVM newsroom that provides local coverage to community news partners across Vermont. CNS students have the opportunity to report on Vermont communities, under the direction of professional editors, and to have their work published in local outlets. It’s all part of UVM’s Center for Community News, a national initiative to grow and strengthen university-led reporting across the country.
This opportunity isn’t just for students interested in reporting and writing; it’s for anyone who wants to better understand the people, places and culture of Vermont. It’s a chance to engage with public life and help contribute to the news landscape with trustworthy reporting.
Learn more about the growing movement of university-led reporting that’s happening across the country – and UVM’s leadership in the field.
Enroll in the appropriate section of CAS 3922 to join the Community News Service!
- CAS 3922 A – REPORTING: For students who are new to reporting and/or would like to grow their skills.
- CAS 3922 B – ADVANCED REPORTING: For students with previous reporting experience.
- CAS 3922 C – RADIO REPORTING: For students interested in radio journalism and audio storytelling.
The Student Experience:
Under the direction of news professionals, CNS students cover a wide range of community-interest topics such as local government, arts and music, education, the environment, sports, police and crime, and elections and campaigns for a range of platforms and outlets. They gain hands-on reporting, writing and storytelling skills in multiple media formats. And they have an opportunity to build a portfolio of published work before graduation.
Credit Information
The Community News Service counts as elective internship credit. If you are minoring in Reporting & Documentary Storytelling, this course counts as your required internship.
CAS 3922 A is a 3-credit course and CAS 3922 B (Advanced Reporting) is variable credit, so you can enroll in 1 credit for every 40 hours you work with CNS over the semester. Please reach out to your section instructor for more information.
Community Impact:
CNS students provide local reporting to community news outlets (print, digital, radio and TV) at no cost to our news partners, helping to rebuild the news landscape in Vermont to reflect our changing demographics and information needs. Some students who are interested in more state-wide stories will also have the opportunity to pursue those interests via this program. Run by experienced journalists and editors, the Community News Service matches talented student reporters with the needs of media outlets across Vermont
We also coordinate the web pages and electronic newsletters for the Hinesburg Record, Waterbury Roundabout, Winooski News.
CNS in the News
- UVM Student Tracks the Vote
- UVM student-journalists develop absentee ballot tracker-map – WCAX
- Boston Globe
- UVM Students Pursue Reporting and Storytelling Curriculum
- Media Note: Student-Run Publication Launches in Winooski
- Community News Project Kicks Off in Waterbury
- UVM Journalism Project Expands to Castleton University
- Full Disclosure: New Class Prepares Community Journalists to Report the News
Scott Finn
Journalism and Democracy Lecturer, Community News Service, Sociology Department
Scott is the former CEO and President of Vermont Public and West Virginia Public Radio. He has worked at public radio stations in Florida and Connecticut and as a reporter at the Charlestown Gazette. Scott is an instructor and manager of CCN’s statewide reporting operation, the Community News Service. He also spearheads CCN’s national education strategy including the CCN Champions program.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer
Lecturer in Public Media
Kelsey is a teacher and audio producer from Columbia, Missouri. She teaches audio storytelling courses at the University of Vermont and leads an internship program for college students at Vermont Public. Before coming to UVM, Kelsey led youth media programs at two NPR member stations and a documentary film festival. When she’s not working, you can find Kelsey riding her bike and listening to podcasts.
Sima Bhowmik
Professional Advisory Board Member • Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Center for Community News
Sima Bhowmik is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Center for Community News (CCN) at the University of Vermont.
Her research is in media sociology and primarily concerns itself with how transition of journalism culture led to influence on journalism practice and news production. Specifically, her work examines Socio-institution and organization-level variables’ impact on organizational culture. She is particularly interested in how technology adoption and government enacted law affect journalist’s role and shape news production processes. Bhowmik’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as Media, Culture and Society, Newspaper Research Journal, International Communication Research Journal.
Still have questions?
Email cas.discovery@uvm.edu — our team would be happy to assist.
