Journalism Majors?

[PuppyforChrist]

Just out of curiousity, is there anyone here who is majoring in journalism or who will be?

I'm going to major in print journalism. (Newspapers, Magazines, etc.)

I thought about starting out as a newspaper journalist after college and then after that get a job with the Christian magazine Guide Post, although I'm leaning more towards writing for the Guide Post for Teens, not the one more geared towards adults.

 

[bliz]

I would encourage you to rethink your major... not your career goals, just how you will get there.

More and more frequently I am reading that editors are saying they simply will not hire journalism majors. THey feel that the programs are way too limited and not nearly rigorous enough. THey have people who know how to write a news story, but are not well educated enough to know how much of the story is real or not becasue they lack basic knowledge and reasoning skills.

By all means, have a minor in journalism, work on any and all campus publications, or do a double major, but re-think the journalism major.

 

[PuppyforChrist]

Bliz, I've been involved with journalism for three years now at my high school. I know a variety of programs like Page Maker and Photoshop.

My teacher has drilled on the concept of ethics and reasoning ever since I first started the class. Believe it or not while this is only a high school newspaper, I have seen one girl come back to my journalism class who decided to major in journalism as well in college this year, tell us that she knew so much about journalism, much more than any other student majoring in the journalism field. She too had been in my high school journalism class for three years, and it is thanks to my teacher/advisor that she is where she is now: much more advanced than anyone else in her class, especially on her college newspaper. She is a freshman, and is teaching people how to write articles in a good and correct way, and how to format articles onto a template in Page Maker.

It's thanks to my teacher that now I want to be a journalist as well. Our high school newspaper won the PSPA All-State award this year, the highest award a high school newspaper can earn in the state of Pennsylvaina.

I know for a fact that I am defenitly going to know a lot more than most of my colleges in my journalism classes in colleges, especially when it comes to the college newspaper. I have seen it, and compaired to my high school newspaper, the college paper is downright horrible to be honest.

I've learned so much from my teacher these three years of journalism in high school. While the journalism college teachings may be limited to an extent, I still know a great deal from my high school classes.

So sorry Bliz but there is no way I am changing my mind about my major. Especially since the fact that I have dreamed of being a professional writer in some way since I was only seven years old. I've been writing for 12 years and I don't ever want to stop. It is where I belong.

Now I certainly do not know everything there is to know about journalism. I am not perfect, but I enjoy it very much, and I want to future continue everything that I have learned in high school into college, and maybe offer some suggestions of my own based on what I have learned in high school for the college newspaper.

I hope I did not come across as blunt or rude to you Bliz, but writing is my dream career, and I want to major in it badly. I've wanted to since I was seven. I may not get the best job in the world after college, I may not even get a job at Guide Post, but that doesn't mean I can't try. Trust me, I have learned a great deal in high school. This is my dream, and I want to go for it.

 

[DiscoGirlie]

I have a degree in Broadcast News and Sociology. My emphasis is on news producing. What they always told us was to either minor or have a second major in something like political science, economics, geography, etc. I knew a couple people in the program who were theater minors. If your university requires a minor, the above subjects would be the way to go. And of course, you should do at least one internship for some "real world" experience.

 

[bliz]

Pay attention, Puppy, I did not suggest for a moment that you not persue writing as a career. I suggested that you think about taking another route to get there other than as a journalism major.

What you have to say about your high school program makes my point: do you need 4 more years of journalism basics? No. You already have that. Work on the school paper, but study something else - anything else! Literature, history, political science, psychology, Bible, the classics...

BTW - why are you going to a college with a terrible newspaper if journalism is so important to you? Yes, it means you have a greater chance of working on the paper and someday being editor, but from whom can you learn more? Clearly the current staff and advisor have little to teach you...

By all means strive to become a writer! I am pointing out that, increasingly, journalism as a major is not well regarded as the best preperation for such a career.

 

[EbonNelumbo]

So I worked with my yearbook staff for like 4 years at my HS and then I worked web design as a site mod and I am currently employed with a prominent conservative newspaper on my campus. I worked for a christian mag for over a year and I wanted very much to work as an editor of a mag or something but God led dif...congrats if you like it, if you have doubts pray.