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The University of Massachusetts journalism department's Alumni All-Star Career Night and Ice Cream Social, part of the Kantor Lecture Series on Broadcast and the Media, was met with a welcoming turnout. Over sixty students and faculty from the journalism department were present to listen to the experiences and advice of the five alumni panelists.
The five panelists provided experience in all aspects of the journalism field. They included Audie Cornish ('01), reporter for National Public Radio; Steve Buckley ('78), sportswriter for the Boston Herald; Maria Sacchetti ('91), a reporter for the Boston Globe; Aaron Saykin, ('01), a consumer reporter for the Pittsburgh Channel; and Sandy Lish ('87), co-founder of the public relations firm The Castle Group.
The panel advised students on the process of keeping up with the ever-increasing changes in technology and the media, and how to network and make yourself known in such a highly selective and competitive field.
Stories of the speakers' personal experiences in rejection and persistence aimed to inspire students to set their own personal goals.
Cornish stressed the importance of gaining experience, recalling her early career working for a PR firm for a bank in Boston. Over time, she came to realize it was not the job for her and is grateful that she was able to gain experience in a different aspect of the field.
Sacchetti encouraged all students to find something they're passionate about and to gather skills and experience. She stressed persistence; that all students should go to as many job fairs as they can and try to sell themselves, by being polite, yet relentless.
Buckley stated that students should develop a world view and go outside one's passion to gain a deeper knowledge of what it means to be a good writer.
"I thought it was encouraging to hear about their own struggles with finding jobs, especially Lish and Buckley and how he just fell into journalism," said senior journalism major Kristen Hamill on Buckley's story about how UMass wrestling sparked his career as a journalist.
Changes in technology and the role of the media in the coming years was one of the critical issues on the minds of students attending the event tonight, such as senior journalism major Alana Melanson.
"More and more people are turning to Internet sources with multimedia content for their news and it's necessary for journalists to adapt to this trend in order to continue doing our jobs and keep the public informed," said Melanson.
When asked about how changes in technology are changing the face of journalism, the alumni panelists reaffirmed that these changes will only help to increase the role of the media and that we should not fear them.
Saykin stressed that an online product is as important as on-air or print media and that currently news continues online. She said one doesn't have to wait until the next broadcast to follow up on a breaking story.
Lish reiterated this opinion by telling the audience how technology is changing the role of public relations in all aspects. She mentioned that bloggers are bringing about tremendous change to her field, are becoming increasingly popular amongst her clients, and that she needs to be one step ahead and face new challenges. Overall, the sentiment was that increasing one's knowledge of certain types of technology will give aspiring journalists an edge in the job market after graduation.
"Listening to the panelists speak, I realized that I need to keep myself better updated with the ever-constant changes in technology, and to be able to stay on top of them," said Melanson.
After the question and answer session, the panelists were available to meet and answer personal questions with students.
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