Cory Dawson is a reporter, editor, and journalism educator. He works to strengthen democracies through independent journalism that holds power to account, and teaches others how to do the same.

Now a freelance writer, he is the immediate past editor of The Community News Service, an innovative internship program that trains and pairs up-and-coming reporters from The University of Vermont and other Vermont colleges and universities with local news outlets. The program bolsters journalism at the local level and dampens the corrosive effects of news deserts on local democracies, as well as trains the next generation of journalists committed to public service.

Cory has written for The Vermont Environmental Report, NBC News, The Associated Press, VTDigger.org, The Burlington Free Press, The Student Press Law Center and The New England Center for Investigative Reporting. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Georgetown University and a political science degree from The University of Vermont.