Alumna is Shaping the Future of Local Journalism
Jenn Bertetto likes to say that her career in news began long before she ever had a title. As a teenager, she worked for her local newspaper’s sports department. But when she arrived at the University of Pittsburgh, news was not in her plans.
"When I started at Pitt, I was a psychology major and never intended to go into the news business," recalls Bertetto. "I was considering a few very different paths—law, clinical psychology, even the FBI. Media really wasn't on my radar at all."
After graduating from the Dietrich School in 1997, Bertetto took a sales job at the Tribune-Review during the paper's Pittsburgh expansion, a position she assumed would be a brief stop on the way to something else.
"At the time, I truly thought it would be temporary—just a way to get started while I figured out my long-term path," she says. "But what I found was an industry and an organization that I connected with, and opportunities that kept evolving."
Twenty-eight years later, she is still at the Tribune-Review. Bertetto moved steadily through sales and leadership roles (sales manager, director, vice president, chief operating officer) and, in 2015, became president and CEO of Trib Total Media. Along the way, she helped launch 535media, the company's digital marketing agency, an effort that reflects the evolution of both her company and her industry.
"What started as a short-term job turned into a career I couldn't have planned," says Bertetto. "My aspirations have shifted from figuring out 'what I want to do' to focusing on how to lead an organization, support local journalism, and create opportunities for others—much like the unexpected opportunity that started it all for me."
Bertetto credits her Dietrich School education with preparing her for a path she never could have mapped in advance.
Explains Bertetto, "A Dietrich School education gives you more than subject-matter knowledge. It teaches you how to think, how to communicate, and how to adapt. In media, you have to be able to understand people, navigate change, make decisions with imperfect information, and keep learning. My Pitt education helped build that foundation."
Even as her work carried her through sales, operations, and executive leadership, she says the liberal arts mindset: "curiosity, critical thinking, and clear communication," has been present at every step.
That same belief in staying open is part of what keeps her connected to Pitt today.
"What stayed with me most from Pitt was the idea that opportunities often come from being open, engaged, and willing to stretch," Bertetto says. "Pitt gave me exposure to different ways of thinking and a broader sense of what leadership can look like."
She remains especially tied to student journalism and professional development, including prior involvement with The Pitt News (as a board member for four years and Chair for one) and her ongoing student-facing initiatives; experiences that, she says, reinforce how important it is for students to test themselves in real-world settings and see that their work can have an impact. It is a conviction that drew her to serve on the Dietrich School Board of Visitors.
"Joining the Dietrich School Board of Visitors was appealing because it is a practical way to help students—not just by celebrating the school, but by creating connections, career visibility, internships, and access to professionals who can help them imagine their next steps," she says. "I've always believed that alumni should do more than talk about giving back; they should help open doors."
Opening doors is more than a metaphor for Bertetto, who has also helped establish internship programs for students in the Dietrich School's Department of English.
"I believe internships can change the trajectory of a student's life," she says. "They give students the chance to test their interests, build confidence, learn workplace expectations, and make the jump from classroom talent to professional opportunity. In fields connected to writing, journalism, media, and communications, that hands-on experience matters enormously."
Her goals for those students are expansive. "Not every talented writer becomes a novelist or a reporter; some become strategists, editors, marketers, audience specialists, publishers, communicators, or entrepreneurs," she notes. "I want students to leave an internship with sharper professional skills, a clearer sense of direction, and the confidence that they belong in serious professional spaces."
Today’s students are entering a field in flux, but Bertetto remains a clear-eyed optimist about where journalism is headed.
"Journalism is absolutely under pressure, but I'm still optimistic about its future because the need for trusted local reporting has not gone away. If anything, it has become more urgent," she says. "The future belongs to news organizations that are mission-driven, innovative, and financially disciplined enough to adapt."
She has spoken publicly about the need for sustainable models and fairer economics for local publishers, particularly in a digital environment where major platforms have captured so much of the value that journalism creates. In Pittsburgh, she sees the current moment as a call to grow thoughtfully rather than retreat. What she hopes her trainees understand is that conviction alone won't carry the work.
"Journalism still matters deeply, but loving it is not enough," Bertetto says. "You also have to understand audience needs, business realities, technology, and the responsibility that comes with earning trust."
That pragmatism runs through her approach to leadership as well.
"My leadership philosophy is grounded in adaptability, accountability, and respect for the people doing the work," she says. "Media has changed dramatically during my career, so I've had to lead through uncertainty, reinvention, and difficult decisions. I try to be transparent about challenges, clear about expectations, and open to new ideas."
As a woman who rose to a CEO role in a changing industry, Bertetto is candid about a landscape she sees as encouraging but still uneven.
"Women leaders are often expected to prove themselves repeatedly, to navigate assumptions about authority and to balance confidence with likability in ways men are not always asked to do," she said. "Women should not internalize those barriers as limitations. Competence, resilience, and a willingness to keep growing matter."
For all Bertetto has accomplished--in 2022, the school recognized her with its Distinguished Professional Achievement Award--she is quick to say her career has never been a solo story.
"Whatever recognition I've received has come through collaboration with talented colleagues, mentors, and teams who care deeply about the work. I’m also especially proud that local journalism still has the power to evolve, serve communities, and create opportunities for young people entering the field. If there’s one message I’d want students and young professionals to hear, it’s that careers are rarely linear — and that openness to change can end up being one of your greatest strengths.”
Return to the July 2026 issue »