About

Hi there! I'm Benjamin Payne, a communications professional with a public media journalism background, living in the Pacific Northwest.

I previously served as the Savannah-based reporter and bureau chief for Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), the statewide NPR network for the Peach State, where I covered stories across coastal Georgia. In August 2025, I moved to my wife's hometown of Bellingham, Washington, as she began an exciting new chapter in her own career.

I currently work at the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, a national nonprofit that helps families learn about the K-12 education options available to them. My work there draws directly on my reporting background: developing original storytelling, coordinating media outreach, and translating complex information into something people can actually use.

On the side, I also built BorderBug, a free tool that tracks live wait times at all U.S.-Canada border crossings in my neck of the woods — born out of one too many day trips north spent guessing how long the line would be.

Community voices have always been the throughline in my work. Whether I was reporting from the field or shaping a narrative series today, I've made it a habit to center the people closest to a story, especially those whose perspectives don't always make it into the news.

My reporting has aired on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition, as well as Marketplace and the Marketplace Morning Report from American Public Media. I've also moderated panel discussions, including one on voting rights and election integrity with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

In 2020, I earned my Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno's Reynolds School of Journalism, with a concentration in news innovation. There, I was named the school's Outstanding Student in Business Journalism.

Feel free to reach out at benjaminthomaspayne@gmail.com or find me on LinkedIn. Thanks for stopping by!