John Carlin: Data and the Media

Research Integrity and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Lecture Series
Data and the Media
Presenter: John Carlin, anchor WSLS-10 News
Recorded on November 15, 2024
Lecture Description:
Public trust is vital to the research enterprise. Whether results are shared through scientific presentations, at conferences, or in the media it’s important to consider how to share information responsibly. This lecture will focus on how data is received and processed by news media and the considerations that are taken when the information is then reported to the public.

Speaker Bio: 

John Carlin co-anchors the 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on WSLS 10.

A dedicated community servant, John is a board member of Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, past board chair of the YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge, member of the board of Saint Francis Service Dogs, board member of the Associated Press of the Virginias and serves on the board of Trustees for Lewis Gale Hospital. He is a co-founder of the Blue Ridge Marathon, and serves on the patient advisory committee for the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, where he hosts an award-winning podcast.

Carlin was a part of the WSLS 10 team that earned the Peabody Award for coverage of the April 16, 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. John is the recipient of eight Emmy awards for reporting and anchoring, as well as numerous awards from RTNDA, VAB and the Associated Press. He has been honored with distinguished service awards by both the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and the Virginia Associated Press.

John stepped away from broadcasting four about 4 years from 2009 to 2013 to practice public relations, including a stint as Director of Public Relations for Ferrum College, where he helped launch most of the college’s social media pages and oversaw a major revision of the campus website.  He also contributed heavily to campus alumni and development activities.  During that time, he also served local, national, and international clients. 

John’s broadcasting career includes stops at WPTZ in Plattsburgh, NY/Burlington, Vt. WDTV in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and WTVR in Richmond. As part of a news sharing agreement with WFXR (FOX), John co-anchored the 10 p.m. news in Roanoke for more than a decade. He also taught broadcast writing as adjunct faculty at Virginia Tech from 1996 – 2007.  He has also taught at Radford University.

John is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh with a degree in mass communication.

In his spare time, John is an avid cyclist and fisherman. He lives in Roanoke, where he and his wife Mary enjoy time with their three grown sons and seven grandchildren.