NABNASSET — For Melanie Duronio, returning home after graduation also meant returning to Westford Community Access Television.
A Westford resident and recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Duronio has joined the WestfordCAT editorial team as a multimedia journalist, bringing her experience in community journalism and a passion for telling stories that connect people with their neighbors.
“It’s really cool to come back,” Duronio said. “I’m really grateful for WestfordCAT because this is where I first started in a lot of ways, and I learned a lot here.”
Duronio graduated from Mount Holyoke College in May with degrees in English and journalism. While in college, she served as features editor for “The Mount Holyoke News,” where she developed a passion for in-depth storytelling and investigative reporting.
“I’ve always liked feature stories highlighting people who are doing work in the community,” Duronio said. “That naturally led me toward more investigative journalism because it allowed me to really get to know people, their lives and their work.”
Her interests expanded to include local government reporting, women’s issues and LGBTQ+ rights, experiences she credits in part to attending a historically women’s college.
“I was surrounded by so many people doing really incredible things,” Duronio said. “That inspired me to tell stories about women’s communities and the people making a difference.”
While Duronio loved writing she didn’t fully delve into the world of journalism until her sophomore year at Westford Academy. It was at that time that an English teacher encouraged her to join the school’s student newspaper, “The Ghostwriter.” That decision changed everything.
She remained with the newspaper throughout high school before completing her senior capstone at WestfordCAT in 2022. After graduating from Westford Academy, she returned as a summer intern in 2023, learning the fundamentals of community reporting and television production.
“It was my first real professional journalism experience,” she said. “Being in that environment made me realize there was so much more to journalism than writing stories for school.”
Following graduation from Mount Holyoke, Duronio has returned home to spend time with family and consider her next career steps. Although she had explored other interests during her senior year, journalism has remained close to her heart.
“I really loved working here,” Duronio said. “I loved the people, I loved working with Sarah, and I have really good memories from my internship. I was so happy there was a place for me to come back.”
In her current role, Duronio wears many hats. Along with reporting for “The Westford Villager,” she assists with newspaper layout and plans to contribute to WestfordCAT’s television programming and expanding digital presence.
“I’m excited to help build the print edition while also supporting our online and social media efforts,” Duronio said. “I think having both print and digital media is really important because different people access news in different ways.”
