Reporting

The reporting concentration focuses on the skills needed to become a journalist across media platforms, informing the public about events and issues of social importance.  Students gain the critical skills needed to be successful in any reporting environment or topic area, whether working for an online news site, print newspaper or magazine, radio or television station, or social or other emerging platforms — or some combination of these media.

Our skills curriculum begins with broad training across the professional practice areas of mass communication and in widely applicable skills such as data analysis and visualization. From there, reporting students practice media production in a foundational reporting course, Reporting Principles and Practices. Here, students polish their skills writing for a variety of media and covering campus and community events. Students might find themselves creating audio stories, or work on deadline driven social media coverage. Following that, students choose advanced courses in specific areas such as in-depth and hyperlocal reporting, investigative journalism, video journalism, audio storytelling, opinion and analysis, and creative nonfiction.

Advanced courses also are offered in areas relevant to both strategic communication and reporting, such as multimedia design, long form video (documentary), sports communication and magazine publishing. These courses provide experiences that directly apply to careers in any number of areas. For example, the Video Journalism course works directly with WPT to produce live, streamed news content, with an online component as well.

Our program is based on the idea that to be successful in reporting, practitioners need to understand why they are making decisions as well as how to produce media in multiple forms, while understanding the potential impact of that content. All students are required to take at least three communication theory or topic courses, such as history or law of mass communication, media and the consumer, mass communication effects, communication and public opinion, media and youth, health communication, international communication, political communication, communication research methods, and communication-based service learning courses.

Where you can work

Students prepare for an always-changing media world. Students’ training prepares them for careers working in online news sites and organizations, newspapers, magazines, local and network television stations and networks, radio stations and networks, internet companies, publishing houses, or any publication, online site or organization devoted to informing the public about current events or issues. However, a student who studied strategic communication with an emphasis on public relations may work for a nonprofit creating editorial content such messages using video or audio or writing for a corporate website.