Stephanie Murray '18 and Ali Furlo '17 are making themselves known in the UMass Journalism community and beyond.
Both landed full scholarships to attend the Online News Association Conference Sept. 15 - 17 in Denver, CO. The conference brings together a variety of media professionals, providing Furlo and Murray opportunities to network, learn from veterans in the field, and attend a variety of workshops and presentations.
We are thrilled for both of them. None of this would have been possible without assistance from UMass Journalism alum Meghan Murphy '08, who serves as a community manager for ONA. Murphy reached out to our faculty over the summer to nominate deserving students, and both stood out as strong candidates.
Murray is the editor-in-chief of Amherst Wire, and Furlo serves as managing editor. Amherst Wire is the student-run, online magazine of our department, and we're off to a strong start with both of them in key leadership positions.
Both students exceled at their internships this summer. Murray was at the Daily Hampshire Gazette, and because she served as an intern for the 2015-2016 academic year and showed great promise, she was given full reporting responsibilities. "Stephanie is so talented as a reporter and writer, so on the ball, that she turned an internship into a paid summer job with us," says Larry Parnass, the Gazette's editor-in-chief. Murray's stories often landed on the front page of the paper throughout the summer.
Furlo interned this summer with the communication team at the UMass President's Office, learning how to manage their website by updating stories and statistics. She also posted for their social media channels, focusing on news from each of the five campuses. "I learned the ins and outs of Drupal, as well as gained more experience using Photoshop," Furlo told us. "I was fortunate enough to network with many great people, including University President Marty Meehan."
We're so proud of these stand-out students. We hope they have a fabulous time in Denver.