Media and Journalism Major, BA (Small Plan)

This major trains students to conceive ideas and collect and present information using words, pictures, video and sound for distribution to a diversity of audiences via a variety of media channels. Students will learn how to research, report, communicate and engage audiences with news and non-fiction storytelling that make a difference in people’s lives. Through coursework and experiential learning in the program’s student media outlets (The Observer, PULSE magazine, CentralNewsWatch), Media and Journalism majors will learn how to produce and deliver content for online, broadcast and print presentation. Students will also understand the ethical, legal, historical and societal environment of journalism and the fundamental role media plays in our social, political and economic systems.

A second major or a minor are required with this degree plan.

Program Requirements
Students must complete the two communication foundation courses (COM 201 and COM 207) with an overall average of B in order to graduate from the major. In all other courses counted toward fulfilling major or minor requirements, a minimum grade of C- is required. 

Program Learner Outcomes 
Upon successful completion of this program, students will be able to:

• Create thorough and compelling news and feature stories by discovering, evaluating and interviewing diverse sources, observing, working a beat, doing computer-assisted research, requesting and accessing documents, producing quality audio and video, and publishing professional-level content on appropriate online platforms;
• Work as a team to produce media products for general distribution;
• Craft effective messages by writing correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the media and communication professions, audiences and purposes they serve;
• Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the media and communication professions in which they work;
• Understand concepts and apply theories in the use and presentation of images and information;
• Summarize professional ethical principles and apply them in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity;
• Examine issues of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and, as appropriate, other forms of diversity in domestic society in relation to mass media and communication;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of peoples and cultures and of the significance and impact of mass media and communication in a global society;
• Think critically, creatively and independently;
• Conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the media and communication professions in which they work;
• Employ basic numerical and statistical concepts;
• Illustrate and apply the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press in the United States and around the world, including the right to dissent, to monitor and criticize power, and to assemble and petition for redress of grievances;
• Critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness;
• Outline the history and role of professionals and institutions in shaping media and communication.