Austin Pollack
Turning Stories Into Connection
STORYTELLER.
STRATEGIST.
PRODUCER.
WRITER.
VIDEOGRAPHER.
COMMUNICATOR.
STORYTELLER. STRATEGIST. PRODUCER. WRITER. VIDEOGRAPHER. COMMUNICATOR.
Welcome
I wear a lot of hats.
Depending on the day, I’ve been called “the guy from the news,” “camera guy,” a reporter, journalist, or storyteller. My official title, Multimedia Journalist, hardly captures what the job actually requires.
In practice, I’m a project manager, writer, videographer, editor, communications strategist, content creator, and mentor rolled into one. My experience as a general assignment and features reporter has taught me not just to work quickly, but to combine a self-motivated, fast-paced work environment with the need for clarity and accuracy.
At heart, I’m a storyteller fascinated by what makes people care. What makes someone stop scrolling and watch? What makes a reporter pay attention to one pitch over another? How do you make an idea resonate with people who aren't already invested in it? To do this, I use my experience covering complex stories and turning them into messages that aren’t just easy to comprehend – but memorable.
That thinking shapes everything I create: understand the audience, find the message, and build around what will resonate. I’ve seen that approach take my stories around the world and, in the best cases, make a real difference. It helped inspire a donation that sent a high school band to Mardi Gras and helped reunite a family with their loved one’s lost military medals. Because when you move people with a memorable story, you can move the needle.
As you look through my work, I hope you see the intention behind it.
I’m not here to cover your story.
I’m here to uncover why it matters.
Best, Austin
Human Stories
Brand & Community
Stories I’ve reported, Later seen nationally
Through independent coverage, citations, and distribution.
“how you made them feel”
Meet Austin Pollack
I have spent more than a decade as an award-winning writer, videographer, editor, and content creator.
Since 2015, I have produced stories that have reached national audiences through distribution, citations and independent coverage from outlets such as CBS News, CNN, The Today Show, Inside Edition and People Magazine. In 2023, I received the Ohio Valley Regional Emmy for my storytelling as a multimedia journalist — essentially a one-person production team, independently taking stories from concept to completion by finding and pitching ideas, reporting, shooting video, writing and editing every piece myself.
After graduating from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University in 2015, I initially pursued a career as a baseball play-by-play broadcaster. One summer as the voice of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers later, I chose to pursue a career in television storytelling.
My career has since taken me from West Virginia to North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee — from anchoring morning newscasts during the COVID pandemic to covering multiple Kentucky Derbys and helping a family reunite with their loved one’s missing military medals.
This is where I learned to let stories circle back to this quote.
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
— Maya Angelou
In 2023, I joined NewsChannel 5 in Nashville to focus on feature and human-interest storytelling. My work there received four Midsouth Emmy nominations in 2025 for news writing, video essayist, multimedia journalist, and serious news feature.
Through it all, I’ve found the stories I love most are the ones that start with a person. My job is to figure out what makes their story worth telling and find the most compelling way to tell it.
As part of my work with Scripps, I’ve had the opportunity to coach, train, and mentor dozens of storytellers around the country on audience engagement and retention, videography, character development, content strategy, messaging, and story structure.
I believe good leadership is rooted in collaboration — asking the right questions, working through challenges together, and helping people find answers rather than simply giving them one. I love learning from the people around me just as much as I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with them. To me, the best teams are built when everyone is willing to teach, learn, challenge ideas, and have their own ideas challenged.
Born and raised in the Boston area, I’m an avid Red Sox and Syracuse fan. I enjoy being active, saying hello to every dog I see on the street, and traveling. I’m on a mission to visit all 50 states (currently at 39) and believe there’s no such thing as too much coffee.
I live in Nashville with my fiancée, Molly, who is a pediatric oncologist.
