Want to Be a Journalist? Here Are 5 Incredible Programs

If you or a student you know loves discovering and telling true stories, you (or they) may want to consider a career as a journalist. Journalists report on events and trends in society and inform the people in their local or even global communities about what’s going on around them. Journalists have to gather facts, conduct research, and compile information into an accessible format. Journalists may work in a variety of media or across multiple media and venues. While there are many schools that have excellent journalism and communications programs, here are five incredible journalism programs you can consider (presented in a random, unranked order).

Emerson College

Emerson College’s journalism program educates students on communicating through text and web mediums as well as audio and video formats.  Emerson’s Department of Journalism prides itself on empowering its students to evolve with and participate in the changing, increasingly digital and multimedia field of journalism and to convey meaningful, ethical, well-crafted news. Students who major in journalism at Emerson, as well as those in other communications majors such as film and marketing, have an advantage in being located right in Boston. Studying in this metropolis increases students’ chances of landing awesome internships and entry level journalism jobs upon graduation.  Their site lists everything from “on-street interviews and attending State House press conferences to providing multimedia coverage of the Emmys,” as examples of the exciting assignments their students may participate in.

One of the coolest parts of Emerson’s Department of Journalism is the opportunity to study and work in their mock newsroom. It’s a high-tech, state-of the art working replica of a newsroom which students manage in teams. Students also get to use Emerson’s Journalism Television and Multimedia Facility and the expertise of professional journalists from the Boston Globe, CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and more.

University of Missouri

The University of Missouri’s journalism school is prestigious and is well known as the world’s first school of journalism, started in 1908 by Walter Williams. Missouri’s journalism program offers students diverse, in depth, and meaningful explorations into professional journalism, including through what they call the Missouri Method. Through this real-world curriculum, students gain experience working with seasoned journalists and professional organizations such as the AdZou agency and Columbia Missourian publication. Another unique offering is the opportunity to work with KOMU, the only commercial TV station and major network affiliate (with CNN and NBC) in the U.S. that is owned and run by a university “as a working lab for students.” Undergrads can choose from 30 journalism specialties at the University of Missouri and can even develop their own specialty.

Northwestern University

Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois is a popular school for journalism studies. Journalism and creative writing are both highly popular majors there. They are the only top 20 university to offer an undergraduate degree in journalism. Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications is named after Joseph P. Medill, a former co-owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune, and was formed in 1921. The program provides a variety of unique programs for their students, including:

• Residencies: in which students work with active media outlets around the world as reporters or in public relations, including in the U.S., Qatar, Latin America, and South Africa.
• Media on the Hill: in which students focus on D.C. journalism and hone their skills in creating quick mobile news updates.
• The Medill Justice Program: in which students with an interest in the criminal justice system are given the opportunity to explore potentially wrong convictions and other justice matters.

Medill also offers a five course undergraduate Integrated Marketing Communications Certificate Program.

Syracuse University

The School of Journalism at Syracuse University was founded in 1934 and now offers eight journalism undergrad programs, covering broadcast, digital, newspaper, and online journalism, and more. The New House School of Journalism at Syracuse University believes in offering its students experiential training in both traditional and innovative methodologies and practices in journalism. Their unique educational opportunities and formats include SULA (Syracuse University Los Angeles), in which journalism students work in LA for a summer, and the opportunity to work in the Newhouse Studio and Innovation Center and the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship. The studio and innovation center opened in 2014 after an $18 million renovation with a guest talk from Oprah Winfrey. It gives students experience using a cutting-edge media center including the “Dick Clark Studios” as they study video media, interactive communications, journalism, advertising, and public relations. The school’s innovative new courses include 3-D Production Workshops, courses covering Human-Computer Interaction, and a Sports Directing Seminar.

New York University

Journalism students at New York University can enjoy and benefit from being immersed in a vibrant city full of professional media opportunities. The journalism institute offers honors and study abroad programs, and also publishes numerous webzines which allow students to share and refine their writing craft. In 2016 the study-abroad program was, “Journalism in Ghana.” The school is proud to employ as professors and host as guests many established and successful professionals in the field of journalism—their site explains that “[t]here is not a magazine or newspaper published in the city whose editors and reporters have not visited us.”

Journalistic ethics, media politics, the craft of writing, and the role of the journalist in society are all focuses of NYU’s journalism bachelor’s degree. Journalism students at NYU can choose to focus in journalism or media criticism during their undergraduate years, and must also major in one other field of their choosing. Under the journalism focus, students choose a print and online sequence or a broadcast sequence, and also have opportunities for advanced individual studies.

All of these schools, as well as many others, can guide and challenge you as you evolve into a professional journalist. Here’s hoping you find a program that perfectly suits your interests and location preferences, and best of luck!

Written by Julia Travers

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