Hey! I’m Sam Zern

I’m a health and community reporter for The Canton Repository in Northeast Ohio. I’m driven by a belief in the power of local news to engage with and build community. I’m inspired by movement & service journalism and hope to orient my work around the principles that make those philosophies so valuable.  

I’m originally from Austin, Texas and got my start in journalism in the South, both freelancing in Austin and as the editor of my college newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Nashville, I also wrote for the Nashville Post and interned with Nashville Public Radio, where I worked on the Peabody award winning podcast The Promise. Most recently, I worked as a state government reporter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I have a special interest in education policy and how state-level decisions impact localities.