Tristan Smith’22, Journalism, is currently a News Associate at CBS News, where he works with CBS News National station on variety of assignments that stretch globally, from booking people to appear on shows to scouring the internet for videos and photos of events to include in broadcasts. He works alongside several producers for CBS Mornings and Evenings. Prior to this role, Tristan was in the News and Documentary program at NYU, and received his master’s degree in the fall of 2024. And before graduate school, he was a News Reporter at MassLive.com for two years. As a student, Tristan completed some internships as a Production/Research Assistant for an HBO documentary with Jigsaw Productions, and as a Documentary Unit Intern on CNN’s The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.
While he was at UMass, Tristan:
– was a reporter for the student-run Amherst Wire, which he says provided the practice he needed for future stories/reporting. And he says without the wire he wouldn’t be where he is today.
Tristan says: UMass Amherst, the professors I had the pleasure of studying under, the classmates I worked beside, gave me the ability and confidence to pursue a career in journalism. I wouldn’t be where I am today without this institution.