Journalism Alumni
Katie Huston, '08, is managing editor of the Daily Collegian. She spent her junior year abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She was awarded the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, which funds graduate study at any British university, and is the first such scholar o be named from UMass Amherst in more than 30 years. Katie begins her master's studies in global political economy andn human rights at the University of Susex in September, 2008. (04/16/08)
Barbara Bartlett-Weiss, class of '07, is the interim science writer for the UMass Press. Barbara previously had a B.S. degree in Geology, then returned to UMass for a second degree in journalism. (1/3/08)
Brendan Hall, class of '07, is a reporter at the Sentinel and Enterprise in Fitchburg, MA. (09/21/07)
Evan Lloyd, class of '07, is living and working in Bordeaux, France. I teach English in two primary schools and also write for a company that does Search Engine Optimization and online marketing campaigns. I'm also trying my best to eat all of the cheese in the country. (04/18/08)
Kelly McGuire, class of '07, is an account manager at The Breton Group, an advertising/marketing agency in Valhalla New York. (11/14/07)
Shauna Staveley, class of '07, has a new job with the Sentinel & Enterprise in Fitchburg, MA. "I am mostly a sports reporter, but I'll also have a weekly news assignment or two. It really helped getting both news and sportsexperience over the past couple of years! I basically fit into a job many cannot, because so many people stick to what they are interestedin rather than what the potential job market may require. It helped me tremendously to be trained so well in news reporting at UMass (I thank Karen List and Nancy Cohen for that). Even though I mainly wanted to pursue a career in sports, I was convinced that I needed news experience after what I was taught. The department taught me well: the News Editorial Director position at WMUA, 91.1 FM was a huge factor in my first full-time job with the Arlington Advocate. I performed tasks with sound bytes and video that began with little things I learned at the
station. Who knew video editing software would be so similar to radio? Now, because of all the experience in only two years, my office is down the street from my house, and I am doing what I love. I just hope the students at UMass appreciate the guidance they are receiving right now. Experience is everything, and training in every facet of journalism gives a rookie reporter the best chance to thrive when they get out of college. READ ONE OF HER STORIES... (03/22/08)
Michael Busack, class of '06. "After a successful stint as a reporter for the Eagle Tribune Newspaper, I made the move to publicity and am now working for Historic Deerfield. Historic Deerfield is an open-air museum in the center of Deerfield (MA) that contains 25 historic homes that have been restored and are now used to display material culture. In addition, the museum has aa state-of-the-art exhibition building that displays exhibitions on the fiber arts, furntiure, and many other important items of Americana. I've joined Deerfield as part of their continuing effort to grow the institution and increase our visibility across the country." (1/19/08)
Hannah Drake, class of '06, is now an Associate Editor for SearchServerVirtualization.com, an online server virtualization resource for system architects and IT directors. . She says, "The online journalism classes were definitely a good call for the curriculum, even though they weren't available when I was a student. I'm not on the news team, but I do write occasionally. We hired new staff to free up time spent in producing daily newsletters so that I could write more articles. However, I've always been in charge of news and technical tip summary writing, and now find myself working with webcasts and podcasts with experts in the field.I also work with RSS feeds, site building, studying site metrics and watching traffic flow, tracking the budget for freelancers and HTML definitely comes in handy. Technology journalism is definitely not somewhere I thought I'd end up, but it's fun knowing what's coming before most consumers do. Writing for the web is definitely different than writing for print. You have to be a lot more concise and interesting, as people have a much shorter attention span and can be on a new Website in a single click. You also have to pay more attention to the visual aspect of the published article; if a paragraph is more than a few lines it can deter a reader. Sub-heads become a lot more important. We've started incorporating a lot more video, and my boss has suggested I take broadcast journalism training classes to work on my diction and inflection as she thinks that's where we're headed (of course, for online media, not for TV). (10/18/07)
Adam Gardner, class of '05, is currently serving in the Peace Corps in Jordan. "Ive been in Jordan since July, 2006, and will complete my service in August, 2008. Here I teach English to sixth graders full time, organize community projects, and act as a grass roots diplomat representing the U.S. I'll begin a masters program in International Affairs in the Fall of 2008 and will concentrate on the Middle East, security studies, and the Arabic language. The Journalism Program at UMass Amhers assisted me in finding direction simply by instilling in me a curiosity for current world events and social and political change. It also of course improved my writing skills dramatically. This will be invaluable in graduate school. I can also keep my friends and family entertrained with emails home and have some travel writing on my own." Adam had a second major in Political Science. (01/04/08)
Naomi Rudov, class of '05, is now working at WGBH in Boston as a research assistant in the Media Library and Archives. She plans to go to Simmons College and get a Master's Degree in Library & Information Science with a particular focus on Archives to enhance her work in the WGBH Archives. Naomi minored in Hebrew. (01/04/08)
Dan Lamothe, class of '04, recently accepted a position with the Army Times Publishing Co. which covers the Marine Corps. He also was recruited to blog about the World Series for Yahoo! Sports. "They picked meup on the basis of an offbeat blog I run on the side for MassLive.com called Red Sox Monster (http://blog.masslive.com/redsoxmonster). It became popular this summer in part because I spend way, way too much time on YouTube looking for videos of fans doing dumb things at the park." (12/14/07)
George Chidi, class of 2001, minored in Middle East Studies. He is now a mobile journalist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He is a "semi-experimental kind of of roving multimedia reporter. We have digital cameras, voice recorders and laptops, andwe're told to report wha we see. I cover a suburbant area north of Atlanta. I've helped on reporting stories on Michael Vick, along with lots of crime and human interest reporting. Shout at me if you want." (10/13/07)
Alicia Conway, class of 2001, is working at Boston.com as a technical producer. (09/14/07)
Peter Billman-Golemme, class of 2000, is teaching English and journalism to 9th and 12th graderes at the South Hadley High School in South Hadley, Massachusetts. In 2004, he earned a M.Ed in English Education from Plymouth State University and his Massachusetts Teaching License. I have a blog where I write about my teaching experiences, post assignments, and publish examples of student work. It is bgenglish.blogspot.com . In June, 2008 he will be marrying Mary Kate Weller, a 2005 UMass Amherst MAT graduate in French and francophone studies. (10/03/07)
Jill Carroll, class of 1999, is a reporter with the Christian Science Monitor, based in Egypt covering northern Africa. Read recent stories. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0911/p06s03-wome.html and http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0911/p06s01-wogn.html (9/14/07) Read her story...
Adam J. Keigwin, class of 1999, is the Communications Director for California State Senator Leland Yee in Sacramento. Adam reports that he is "still fighting the good fight, even on this side. We have passed legilation to protect student speech at colleges, cinlduing preventing prior restraint by school administrators. This year we have a follow-up bill that protects factuly a the high school and college levels from retailiation by administraotors for student speech (most often newspaper advisors). Adam and his wife, Isis Dallis Keigwin are the proud parents of Sienna Sojourner Keigwin, 2, and Olivia Marley Keigwin, 2 months. (03/21/08)
Luke Meredith, class of '98, is working as an AP Sports Writer in Des Moines, IA.
David Bloodsworth, class of '97, is working as the Director of Marketing and PR for Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA. "After a stint as spokesperson/communications director for Brockton Mayor John Yunits,I was hired to oversee marketing and public relations for the Fuller Craft Museu. I encourage you to come by and say hello. My wife Jocelyn and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary in September and our daughter Lydia Grace will be two in January." (12/19/07)
Sarah Coffey, class of '97, is a reporter at Reuters in New York City covering equities. Go Red Sox!
Suzanne Morse, class of '95, is an associate director in communications practice with Boston's O'Neill and Associates. Read more...
John P. Estrella, class of '91, currently runs the Able Mortgage Company in New Bedford, MA. "I live in Berkley (pop. 5,749), where I endured with Mary (HRTA '91) for years as the sole UMass hoops fanatics until tiny-town superstar and 6-7 beanpole defensive specialist Tony Gaffney made a splash on campus. Left journalism in 2003 after five years as business editor at The Patriot Ledger in Quincy and the hellacious commute it required. I now run a ABLE Mortgage Co. in New Bedford - 'When you're ready ... we're ABLE!' - , direct the town's youth baseball program for the 9th year and parent Alex, 14; Zack, 12; and Hope, 9. I published a monthly newspaper in the Berkley from 1999 to 2001. Maybe I'll do it again." He had a second major in Political Science with a concentration in Philosophy. (01/04/08)
Todd C. Lever, class of '89, minored in Journalism with a Political Science major. In February 2007 he joined Noble Health Systems and is now the Vice President of Marketing & Public Relations at Noble Hospital in Westfield, Massachusetts. Using his Journalism-acquired media and writing skills ona daily basis, he was named to Business West Magazine's 40 under 40 list this past year. He is still living in the Pioneer Valley. (08/28/07)
Peter K. Delani, class of '87, is a co-founder of ROAD S?GNS, a company formed "to advance humanity by helping others to identify and fulfill their life purposes." His first book, "A Walk With Daimon" is scheduled for release Jan. 21, 2008. His second major was in Political Science with a minor in history. (1/9/08)
Lynn Kiele Bonasia, class of ’84, is proud to announce the publication of her first novel by Touchstone Fireside, a division of Simon & Schuster. Some Assembly Required will be released in June of 2008. Set on Cape Cod, the novel tells the story of Rose, a former writer of instruction manuals, and Simon, a recovering alcoholic, who each come to the Cape to “assemble” new lives amidst a community of quirky locals and, in the process, help solve a 30-year mystery surrounding the disappearance of a teenager. After graduating, Lynn "slipped over to the dark side, pursuing a career as an advertising copywriter in Boston and New York, and later as a freelancer." She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Florida International University in 2005, and now lives in Belmont, MA, with her husband and teenage son. She fondly remembers professor Ralph Whitehead for his dynamic lectures and she was sorry to learn of the passing of her undergraduate advisor, Dario Politella, whom she also held in high regard.
Andrea Atkins, class of '81, is a freelance writer now living in New York. She writes magazine articles for national women's magazines, including Woman's Day, Redbook, Better Homes & Gardens, and others. "I cover health, parenting and other features, including personal essays.Last year I received the 2007 Media Award from the International Reading Association for a series I wrote on kids and literacy." (1/4/08)
Joe Quinlan, class of '80, has been an assistant district attorney since December 1988, and worked in the Hampden, Hampshire/Franklin and Middlesex offices before moving to Worcester in March 2007. Upon graduating from UMass, heworked for the Associated Press in Boston, Knoxville, TN and Springfield, MA before enrolling in law school in 1984 at Western New England College in Springfield. While working at the Hampshire/Franklin District Attorney's Office in Northampton and Greenfield, he taught "Covering the Courts" course at night at the Journalism Department. He'll be happy to help any journalism majors with law-school questions.
Heidi Berenson, class of '79, is an Emmy-award and Peabody-award winning producer, veteran of CBS and ABC, now owner and president of Berenson Productions, Inc., in Washington, D.C. Read more...
Kevin Cullen, reporter at the Boston Globe and a Journalism gradaute, received the American Society of Newspaper Editors 2008 Batten Medal. Read more...
Stephen Seche, class of '74, appointed ambassador to Yemen. Read more. (09/5/07)
Kristen Laine, author of recently published American Band, a book about an elite high school marching band (Gotham Books, August 2007), began work on the book while enrolled in an undergraduate creative nonfiction course taught by Journalism professor Maddy Blais. The book has received national attention, with reviews appearing in publications as diverse as Parade and Entertainment Weekly. She has also appeared on television and radio programs, including NPR Radio's "Talk of the Nation." Link to reviews of her book at the Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118920654388021160.htmlwww.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/chi-bandbw08_dtsep08,1,3052965.story
(09/5/07)
Dr. Peter Hendrickson, class of '66, is currently an Assessment and Research Specialist in teh Everett, WA public schools, after serving for several years as curriculum director and public school principal. He began teaching in Ecuador in the early 1970s followed by administrative stints in Ohio, Alaska and several Washington cities. He started a daily newspaper with students in Ecuador including women's prison and military coup interviews. Made a movie with MS students in Oberlin. Edited, published four local history books in Ohio and Washington. Hosted, produced 50+, live cable TV shows featuring local artists. Chaired several professional conferences and currently edits a newsletter/journal for the Washington Educational Research Association. UMass print and broadcast study (Arthur Musgrave, Dario Politella, Al Oickle) and practice (WMUA, Greenfield Recorder-Gazette, WHMP and Collegian) were wonderful starts to a brief journalism career--Hartford Times, Springfield Daily News, Australian TV script writing and technical writing--and ongoing educational career. He double majored in Enlgish with a minor in Biology. (1/3/08)
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