VTDigger hires Thys as business/economy reporter

The following VTDigger.com announcement was sent out:

The statewide, nonprofit news organization has established a new creative director position charged with overseeing design, marketing and user experience. It has also created a sixth regional reporter position focused on the Chittenden County cities and towns outside of Burlington.

Among the new hires is veteran journalist Fred Thys, who will cover business and the economy for VTDigger. Thys most recently spent more than two decades at WBUR in Boston, where he covered higher education and politics. Prior to that, he served as a Mexico City bureau chief for NBC News, a New York- and Atlanta-based producer for CNN and a Buenos Aires-based producer and reporter for CBS News. Thys plans to start at VTDigger on June 21.

Joining him on the news team will be Lana Cohen, who has been hired for the new Chittenden County regional reporter position. Cohen spent the past year as a Report for America corps member at the Mendocino Voice and KZYX Radio in northern California. Prior to that, she served as an environmental reporting fellow at WhoWhatWhy, an investigative reporting nonprofit.

Another new hire, Report for America corps member Shaun Robinson, started this week in the recently created position of Franklin and Grand Isle regional reporter.

Read more here.