Meet Malyk Johnson ‘20, an RMU alumnus who knew from the moment he stepped onto campus that he was in the right place.

“I knew I wanted to go to school for journalism,” Malyk said. “I think originally, I wanted to be… a writer for… something like Forbes magazine… an online website.”

However, one visit to RMU changed everything for him.

“I toured two schools… I saw the TV studio and the pitch was that you get involved on day one, before day one… You go to the Sentry Media Retreat and before your first day of class, you're already writing, making TV stuff, and hitting the ground running… I was like, ‘This is where I’m going;’ I didn't apply anywhere else. Robert Morris was it.”

Those early hands-on opportunities were the major difference—during his time at RMU, Malyk immersed himself in RMU Sentry Media, the Academic Media Center, and even held leadership roles for RMU Radio.

“I worked in the Academic Media Center… It was great. I was the Program Director for RMU Radio and I'd held a couple of other positions. It was a really good time and like I said… the experiences that I got at the Academic Media Center were a perfect jumping off point for what I did after I graduated…”

RMU faculty and staff also played a monumental role in his journey.

“Dr. Pinson was obviously great… I remember Dr. Moretti and his wife, Mrs. Moretti, were both really great professors… the entire academic media staff… Joe Hale, Ray Zaparoni… Dr. Tim Jones… all of them… I still keep in touch with almost all of them… They were super important for both my time in RMU and outside of RMU… I go to those guys for advice… Another professor that I forgot to mention is Shelley Rodgers, who was actually working at WPXI while she taught part-time at Robert Morris… Those will be some of the people that I call… Some of the people that I look forward to hearing from if I'm looking for advice or just looking to bounce ideas off the walls…”

Moreover, RMU’s connection to the TV news and media industries has proved to be invaluable.

“Robert Morris had a lot of people who were not just professors, but professionals in the field… They knew people and how to get connected…”

Outside of his studies, RMU gave him opportunities that extended to different parts of the country.

“... Both trips to New York were for college media conferences... Those are the only times I've been to New York, so those are memorable… Louisville was the same deal… It was for a Society For Collegiate Journalists Conference… Louisville is a great city… I always say that I mean to go back again…”

Also, the 2016 Presidential Election took place just a few months into Malyk’s RMU journey.

“I covered a Trump rally. I remember the lead up to the… election… I was still new… That was my freshman year… 2016… I covered all sorts of things… I mean things on campus, things off campus… It was a good experience on what I did after I left…”

Before the first day of classes his freshman year, Malyk knew his decision and the experience were already paying off.

“The reason why I applied was the pitch that you hit the ground running before day one and that pitch was fulfilled exactly the way that it was pitched. It couldn't have been pitched any better. Before my first day of classes, freshman year, I did the RMU Sentry Media Retreat. I had written an article, sat in on an interview with the President of the University, produced a newscast, and I did all that before everybody else moved in… I don't know if I would’ve gotten that same experience anywhere else…”

He has a lot of memories of the Academic Media Center, as he spent most of his time on-campus there.

“The Academic Media Center was where I spent a lot of my time… Both trips to New York were great… I still talk about the trip to Louisville… We broadcasted three election nights from that studio… Homecoming was always great… A lot of my memories around RMU were focused around that Academic Media Center and the stuff we did every day there…”

After graduating in 2020, Malyk’s journalism journey took him to the West Coast.

“I worked for KERO… in Bakersfield, California… I worked there right out of RMU… I think, technically, I was still a senior in college when I took that job… Then, about two years after that, in 2022, I moved to Cincinnati at WCPO… Then, after that, I moved here for a job at WPXI… It's been good. I lived in California for two years, I lived in Ohio for two years, and I finally moved back to Pittsburgh… I've had a great time working in TV news across the country…”

Living on both sides of the country gave him the opportunity to have new experiences and produce stories that may not be seen on your daily newscast.

“I don't do too much interviewing nowadays, but getting to learn about and meet new people has probably been one of my favorites… I've told really cool stories from debates about backyard chickens to elections and COVID… All sorts of things… That variety has been my favorite part of the job…”

Since he started his first job in January 2020, his first few months within the TV news industry were sculpted by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My first year or so in TV news was under COVID lockdowns… It was a learning experience… Learning how to produce remotely and learning how to produce from home had its difficulties, so I had technical challenges… Then, learning how to produce after COVID… Imagine you had taken a job and everything you learned after that first year—you not only have to relearn, but learn completely differently and in a completely different way…”

Now back in the Pittsburgh-area, he continues to do what he loves as a Producer for the morning news at WPXI-TV.

“I produce the morning news at WPXI… I come in anywhere between midnight to 4 AM depending on what show I am working on… I'm going through the news of the day and putting it in, putting the show on, and putting the show together… I'm writing scripts for anchors and making sure that graphics and video are where they need to be… Then, once the show starts at 4:30 AM, I could be helping to make sure that scripts get updated throughout the morning and helping to make sure that the newest information gets added to the shows… I could be in the control room making sure that shows are timed out correctly and making sure we hit commercial breaks… Any day could be different… There's a lot of different things that I can do on a day-to-day basis…”

The opportunity to return to Pittsburgh also meant returning back to RMU.

“I live in the area now. I moved back to Pittsburgh… It's an easy trip to go, say ‘Hello,’ and catch up with everybody… If I have free time, I go and still keep in touch with those guys… I've been back plenty of times… I went back to watch an RMU TV show… When I lived in Ohio, Moon Township was a good stopping point when I came home…”

Since returning to campus and visiting with professors, like Dr. Tim Jones, he has seen the numerous upgrades and changes made to the Academic Media Center and campus overall since his graduation.

“I’ve seen the new additions to the Academic Media Center… The podcasting rooms and upgrades to the TV Studio… It's always really great to see all of the changes… I was really involved in RMU Radio in college, so it's great to see all the RMU Radio posters all over the Academic Media Center and how much people enjoy participating in that… I've also seen some of the things done to RoMo’s and The Basement… I've seen a couple of those different changes just walking around campus.”

His advice to current students and our newest graduates?

“I would say don't be afraid to reach out to professors and advisors… but also, other alumni. I've heard from and work with other Robert Morris alumni… They've been helpful too. They're spread out all over the country, so wherever you go, there's somebody there's a connection too…”

Today, Malyk continues coming back to his alma mater; the place where his journalism journey all began.

“I still visit campus. I still am close to the people that I met at Robert Morris. Yeah, so I mean I miss it…”

“Yes, I think RMU is a great school to go to…”