As the cold brisk days started to appear in 2022, Cody Finnegan became involved with local journalism. What started as an accident when Finnegan showed up to the Arlington Independent Media (AIM) activities in fall/winter 2022 became something much more over the next few years.

After being involved with AIM for about 6 months, Finnegan participated in the AIM summer 2023 internship, and produced a story on Langston Blvd. He states that “this involved  major community engagement. That story got featured on Greater Greater Washington and led to an interview on WAMU.” From this experience Finnegan became interested in urban planning. 

In January 2024, Finnegan founded The Street Advocates Student Coalition to get students engaged in helping to create safer streets. He is also involved with the Columbia Pike Partnership which helps create maps to document building ownership and prompt community and economic development.

In June 2024, he helped produce a story on a black cemetery in Georgetown that was underfunded and forgotten. The story aired on September 3, 2024, on the PBS news hour, and currently has around 1 million views. He also aired a podcast episode on the Metro changes with an accompanying article for it on Greater Greater Washington. 

For Finnegan, getting involved with his community has been a very interesting experience. Growing up mostly overseas and from the ages of 7-13 not living in the USA at all, since his parents work for the Foreign Service. Through his engagement and advocacy, he has gotten to meet and work with tons of local advocates and leaders.