Emily Siner (rhymes with “finer”) is a journalist in Nashville. She writes, produces and edits stories that document the human experience and explain how things work.
For five years, she served as the news director of Nashville Public Radio (WPLN News), where she oversaw an innovative newsroom that’s frequently recognized for its service to local journalism. She was the editor of the Peabody Award-winning podcast, The Promise, about inequality in Nashville public schools. The immersive series prompted a widespread shift in enrollment and attitudes in East Nashville. She also co-edited a longform investigation on the juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tenn., that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the Goldsmith Award, and a National Magazine Award. And her editing on criminal justice issues in Tennessee led to the early release of two men from prison.
She also produced and hosted an interview podcast called Movers & Thinkers and launched the station’s fleet of podcasts. She was named Tennessee Radio Journalist of the Year in 2016 and has won three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for her reporting.
Before moving to Nashville, she produced stories for NPR.org and interned at the Los Angeles Times, copy-editing some of the best reporters in the country.
She is also passionate about strengthening the future of journalism. She enjoys speaking to journalism students and to community groups about public radio, and she presented at TEDxNashville 2015 about “Bringing Radio Into The Digital Age.”
Emily is a proud graduate of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. In her free time in Nashville, she has a variety of creative outlets, including playing Irish fiddle music and writing a dystopian novel.