Staff Reports
Sean Rossman, the Tallahassee Democrat‘s local government reporter, will join USA Today as a “trending national news” correspondent later this month.
Rossman announced the move on his Facebook page Saturday. He will work from USA Today’s headquarters in McLean, Virginia, starting Nov. 30.
“I owe so much to the Tallahassee Democrat, which gave me a shot at this business and allowed me to grow from a know-nothing wannabe reporter to one that passes as a journalist,” he wrote.
“Credit for any success goes to the saintly, ultra-supportive colleagues I’ve worked with over the last four years,” Rossman added. “They’ve been the best coworkers I’ve ever had.”
He joined the Democrat in 2012 from a job as a “wage compliance officer” with the city of Philadelphia, according to his LinkedIn page. Before that, he interned at the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rossman received his undergraduate degree in journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia.
Democrat Executive Editor William Hatfield gushed about Rossman, the paper’s 2015 Employee of the Year, in a lengthy text message.
Rossman “pounces on the news of the day with vigor and fuses that with award-winning storytelling and a work ethic that is unmatched,” Hatfield wrote.
“It’s also a testament to the power of the USA TODAY NETWORK that little old Tally can be a launching point to GNET HQ in McLean!” he added.
The Democrat and USA Today are both owned by Gannett, the country’s largest newspaper publisher by total circulation.
