Coursework for Journalism Majors

Journalism majors will not only leave college knowing how to write effectively. They must also be able to communicate with others and be knowledgeable about fields outside their program.

As a communications major with a journalism concentration, I'm going to introduce you to some of the basic classes you'll probably be required to take. I'll also tell you about electives that will be beneficial to you to improve your skills. Keep in mind that although core courses may be similar from school to school, program requirements may differ. So if you're unsure of what to take, check with your academic advisor or the chair of your department.

Foundation courses may include:

News writing

When you take news writing, you begin to understand the principles of writing news. You'll learn about the 5WH principle (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?) and receive small news assignments. Depending on your professor's teaching style, you may be assigned a beat (a topic a reporter covers regularly), or be sent out to cover stories. You will do all the work in putting your story together, from making the necessary contacts to interviewing and writing. Aside from that, you will be critiquing your classmates' stories, and like any journalist, you will have a deadline to get your stories in to your professors.

Feature Writing

Your feature writing class will most likely be taken after you complete news writing. This class focuses on the lighter side of the news, with people profiles and the popular evergreen stories. You may have to do exercises to help you do things such as describe people and objects in a colorful light. You may go out and approach people to ask them a few questions about a topic, then come back to class and write a mini story. Feature writing goes beyond the 5WH and helps you tell your story through the most vivid details possible.

Media Law

At my school, this is considered the toughest class for communications majors. Everyone has to take it regardless of the track they were on within the major. However, although the subject matter is difficult, that doesn't make it any less useful. You will learn about legal matters journalists struggle with such as libel, slander, copyright, and privacy laws. If your professor is anything like mine, you might be doing case studies on these topics. If this is the case, Lexis Nexis Legal is your friend. Take advantage of it.

Page design/on line journalism

You will probably have to take at least one class about page design. These classes introduce you to web design and publishing programs such as Quark Xpress, Dreamweaver, and/or Microsoft Front Page. You will select articles for your web projects, or may be writing your own and publishing them. Some of the projects you get to design may include newsletters, blogs, or your own webpage.

So with these being some of the basic core courses, you also have the opportunity to take classes outside your journalism major. These classes can be in other communications areas such as public relations or within different majors that could benefit your journalism education.

Take any political science class you can. This includes courses in U.S. Government, State and Local Government, or anything about international relations. You will gain a basic understanding of how our government works and may even visit places where you can see the government in action. The foundation you have about politics will give you more of an edge in the journalism job competition since you are expected to know a lot about many different subjects.

Any class on communication principles such as public speaking and interpersonal communications are important to have. You will be dealing with all kinds of people and sometimes, a newspaper or magazine reader will call on the writer to answer questions they have about a story. Interpersonal communications will teach you the different verbal and nonverbal messages people send and what they mean. Public speaking will help you articulate a point better and give you even more practice in researching your subject.

An advertising or public relations class will teach you about putting on a good image for a client. You will learn how to effectively promote a client through the use of press releases, storyboards, and a "big idea", which is one thing your project is centered around. For example, when my group in Principles of Advertising put together a campaign for our school football team, our big idea was a discount card that spectators could use at businesses if the team won a game. Public relations and advertising jobs often call for candidates with journalism experience, so if you ever want to enter one of these fields, don't count yourself out just because you are not a major in one of those two areas.

There is more to being a journalism major than just knowing how to write effectively. You may be a good writer, but a vast of knowledge and good people skills are also important to your success. Make sure to fulfill your requirements as soon as possible, but don't overlook the electives available to you. You will satisfy general education requirements and have more to offer to employers down the road.