Scott Dodd is the day editor on the National desk at The New York Times, responsible for planning and organizing the daily report of one of the paper's newsiest desks. He also oversees its coverage of extreme weather, including hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires, and the growing impact of climate change on U.S. communities.
A small-town West Virginia native who also lived in New Orleans, Tulsa and Pittsburgh growing up, Scott graduated from Penn State and spent a dozen years reporting for newspapers in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas, on beats including night cops, county government, the Pennsylvania statehouse and urban development.
As a general assignment reporter at The Charlotte Observer, he covered plane crashes, hurricanes, the Olympic Park bomber, the military, NASCAR races and a Super Bowl. His stories won awards for breaking news, investigations, business coverage and sports reporting, and the local alt-weekly wrote that "when the Observer wants to make a good story a great one, it sends out Scott Dodd.”
After a fellowship at Columbia University, Scott explored other aspects of the media business, teaching journalism, editing at a science magazine and running a digital news outlet. He returned to his newspaper roots in 2018, joining The Times as a senior staff editor. He has participated in its coverage of some of the biggest stories of recent years, including the coronavirus, the Capitol riot and the police killing of George Floyd. Sometimes he gets to do fun stuff, too, like creating news quizzes or memorializing a favorite hot dog shop.
A small-town West Virginia native who also lived in New Orleans, Tulsa and Pittsburgh growing up, Scott graduated from Penn State and spent a dozen years reporting for newspapers in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas, on beats including night cops, county government, the Pennsylvania statehouse and urban development.
As a general assignment reporter at The Charlotte Observer, he covered plane crashes, hurricanes, the Olympic Park bomber, the military, NASCAR races and a Super Bowl. His stories won awards for breaking news, investigations, business coverage and sports reporting, and the local alt-weekly wrote that "when the Observer wants to make a good story a great one, it sends out Scott Dodd.”
After a fellowship at Columbia University, Scott explored other aspects of the media business, teaching journalism, editing at a science magazine and running a digital news outlet. He returned to his newspaper roots in 2018, joining The Times as a senior staff editor. He has participated in its coverage of some of the biggest stories of recent years, including the coronavirus, the Capitol riot and the police killing of George Floyd. Sometimes he gets to do fun stuff, too, like creating news quizzes or memorializing a favorite hot dog shop.
Photo: Three Rivers Fire in Lincoln National Forest, USDA Forest Service