By: Cameron Pellegrino '27
Every year, college seniors walk across the graduation stage with questions about what comes next. Classes are over and the pressures of the job market are no longer hypothetical. For UMass Journalism graduates, that uncertainty is often short-lived. Many step into uncharted territory in roles they have no direct experience in, but the skills they gained at UMass — through classes and student media — give them the confidence and ability to succeed regardless.
The department offers three tracks: general journalism, sports journalism and public relations. The general track is best for students who have a wide variety of interests in journalism, as opposed to the other two highly-specialized concentrations. Students on the general journalism track gain experience across multiple areas of reporting, writing and multimedia production, preparing them for jobs in every corner of the industry.
Johnny Depin ‘25 is the embodiment of doing a little bit of everything. The beginning of his journey centered around sports, as he became an assistant sports editor at the Massachusetts Daily Collegian during his sophomore year and the head sports editor as a junior. In his senior year, he branched out even further and became the managing editor of the paper.
Outside of extensively covering UMass football and women’s basketball, Depin also helped lead coverage of the 2024 presidential election and published stories in the news and arts section as well. Just four months after graduation, he began his new role as a morning news anchor at Monadnock Media Group in Keene, N.H. Even though none of his past experiences involved radio newscasts, he gave it a chance.
“I just applied because it was generally related to my field even though I had no radio experience and not a lot of news writing experience,” Depin said. “During my first interview, my interviewer said that he saw my experience in writing and sports and knew I had a passion for journalism and could teach me the technical aspects of radio.”
Everything connects in journalism. There is truly no limit to how many lanes a journalist can excel at, whether that’s writing, broadcasting, visual storytelling or something else. Nathan Legare ‘25 is a perfect example of journalism skillsets having no bounds. Using writing samples from journalism classes and articles from the Daily Collegian, he landed a job straight out of college, even without filling all requirements of its description.
“It’s easy to think you’re boxed into a single niche in the job market, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Legare said. “During my time at UMass, I considered myself strictly a print journalist, and in my senior year, I came across a job listing on LinkedIn for a Food News Writer at Tasting Table. On a whim, I decided to apply … Despite not meeting the required years of writing experience, I got the job.”
After spending a year in this role, Legare moved onto his next adventure. He took advantage of an opening at WWLP-22News on the LinkedIn job board. The Springfield-based outlet was searching for a Television News Producer, and despite never taking a broadcast class at UMass, his journalistic foundations were still strong enough to land the role. Clearly, strong general reporting skills and initiative often take precedence over check boxes on a job description.
“That’s the main part I would want people to know, is that you might not think you’re qualified for a job or might not have the right experience, but the worst people can say is no,” Depin said. “You can always learn on the fly or teach yourself, which is what I did.”