Refocusing a Career: Tuthill Transitions from TV to College

By Maria Arias

After 18 years as a broadcast journalist, reporter Kelley Tuthill decided to refocus her career path.

Tuthill made the decision to go from a news reporter at WCVB to Vice President of Public Relations and Communications at Regis. “The timing just seemed right,”she said. “I had led WCVB’s coverage of both the Whitey Bulger and Boston Marathon bombing trials and was ready for a new challenge. The position at Regis was the right opportunity at the right time.”

Tuthill said what she will miss most about covering the news is “meeting new people and going to different places to look for those great stories that interest and would help people.”

Tuthill started at WCVB in 1998. While working as a TV reporter,Tuthill covered many stories that she said stay with her. One example is the Boston Marathon trial, which she described as challenging. “I saw and heard things that are hard to erase. [It was] horrible, absolutely horrible looking at the people suffering,” she said.

She added that social media has changed television news over the decade. Tuthill explained that the public expects constant updates, that there is no longer specific time anymore for news broadcast because the public does not want to wait.

“The TV news business has changed tremendously in the 20 years since I started” Tuthill said. “We used to save material for the 6 o’clock news. Now we have to constantly update our stories through social media. It has definitely added to an already high-pressure job.”

For others who are facing similar career changes, Tuthill said that it is all about timing and waiting for the right opportunity.

“You have to know that you are ready. You have to feel it in your heart that you are ready,” said Tuthill.

Tuthill also has advice for the young men and women who are interested in broadcast journalism. She advises them to “learn to be a great writer, to be a good storyteller and a clear and constant writer.”

“Journalism is about having a natural curiosity,” she said “If you are not curious then this career path is not for you.”