Student Profiles

A Commitment to Journalism

William McGuinness '10 at the podium in front of
Fanuel Hall, Boston, speaking last spring on
behalf of saving the Boston Globe

Let there be no doubt: William McGuinness ’10 (journalism), editor-in-chief of the Daily Collegian, is serious about journalism. “I’ve started my future,” he says. “It’s a simple plan: find something you love and do it as long as you can. Obviously, I’d like to find a place where people will intensively read what I write—an audience that cares. I guess I’ve been something of a journalism Calvinist: work hard, work towards perfection, and see what happens.”

It all began in his hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts. “In this working class, rusting mill city, local politics are a huge deal,” McGuinness explains. “My family has always been part of the scene; I’ve been holding signs, soliciting ‘beeps’ and dropping campaign material since I was a toddler.”

By junior high, McGuinness started following the scene more closely in Fall River’s Herald News, in addition to dinner-table conversations. “Things could get pretty contentious and involved, but I remember how the reporters called campaigns as they were. It seemed like a game: the reporter would try to break through the candidate toward a message that was more truthful, direct and suggestive of how proficiently he/she would govern.”

As an eighth grader, McGuinness was running his school’s newspaper, and in high school he eventually became editor-in-chief of the paper, one of the top five in the country with a circulation nearing 50,000. “We were independent and operated entirely on advertising revenue,” McGuinness says. “The Herald News allowed us to be a section insert, greatly dwarfing the circulation of other high school papers. The circulation resulted in a greater sense of responsibility and, therefore, a better product. The city scrutinized, criticized, and applauded our efforts in the same way it would any other publication. Everything was laboriously researched and reported on because, given our audience, we were seen as a source of insider information on the school system.”

By then, McGuinness was pretty sure that he’d be reporting for life. “I came to UMass Amherst because the Daily Collegian was here,” he notes. “It seemed like the next logical step from New England’s largest high school paper to its largest college daily. In addition, I was impressed by the journalism program and its industry-tested professors.”

McGuinness understands that breaking into the field of journalism is tough these days. But he is quick to point out that the journalism program offers students a holistic view of the industry and shows students what it means to be a modern journalist from many angles. “The program has been fantastic for me,” he says. “The courses are challenging and engaging. I’ve been publishing articles in local and state publications throughout my time here, largely due to lessons learned in class.”

Journalists like to level with people, McGuinness notes, and his professors have lived up to that reputation. “They like to sit down and talk…we’re on a first-name basis, on Facebook and Twitter, and I use them as a red phone line for questions, insecurities, or professional queries I might have. We communicate on a frank, friendly basis and often work together on projects between the Collegian and the journalism program. And that’s important. The Collegian is as much a classroom as it is a newspaper. All in all, journalism has helped me become a more outgoing, competent person who sees value in what I’m doing and has trouble tearing myself away from it.”

Internships too have been immeasurably helpful. McGuinness has held four, including one last summer with the LA Advocate, America’s oldest LGBT news magazine. “They wanted me to write about topics related to this major social movement—some would argue, civil rights movement—of our time,” McGuinness says. “I was ready to contribute from the front lines, bearing witness to the way people are affected by others and recording the cause and effect of the present. I wasn’t getting coffee for anyone but myself!”

All work and no play, however, is not McGuinness’s motto. “I think most students strive towards a balance where not everything revolves around academics. After all, when people talk about the ‘college experience’ they don’t reflect on four years of academics. I think the students who enjoy their time here the most are those who are the most involved. UMass provides students with opportunities to operate in a number of social circles. Plus, Amherst is a great town with many cultural offerings. Its youthful and socially conscious atmosphere really stresses that we all have a say in and should be the driving forces of our own lives.”

Simply by working at the Collegian, McGuinness has been part of countless events. “In that collection of experiences,” he notes, “I’ve worked with many RSOs, community activists, faculty and other programs. I’ve marched from Amherst to Northampton with transplanted Tibetans before the Olympics in China, covered student protests on student aid in Boston, and reported on emotions too, especially our campus’s reaction to the Virginia Tech tragedy and those here too. Obviously, journalists are trained in dispassionate reporting, but I’ve gained something extra from these experiences.”

Last spring, in recognition of his commitment to a career as a journalist, McGuinness received the Bacherman Scholarship from the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The award was created in memory of the late Scott Bacherman ’76, who was program director of WMUA from 1973 through 1975 and instrumental in making the station what it is today. “It was a major honor,” McGuinness says. “Mr. Bacherman and Mr. Berman (Marc Berman ’80, Bacherman’s business partner and cousin who presents the award each year) are organic products of a strong student media tradition here at UMass Amherst. They found professional success as a result of their time here, and I hope to do the same out of Mr. Berman’s trust in me and out of respect for Mr. Bacherman’s memory.”

September 30, 2009