Bellingham Visual Journalism ConferenceWelcome to the Journalism Department
Steps to becoming a Major | Student Course Outline | Student Checklist | Special Information for You
The
overall aim of the journalism program is to enable the student to
work creatively in this field, with a thorough understanding of
journalism's evolution in American life and society, its potential
for enhancing our values and its role in a working democracy.
A student graduating from Western
Washington University with a degree in journalism should have a strong
liberal arts education, skills in critical thinking and analysis, an
aggressiveness in gathering diverse and substantive information that
may not be readily available, and an ability to write clearly and reasonably
quickly on complex topics. The graduate should have a sense of commitment
to see that democratic processes in society are served by the timely
disclosure of quality information to the reading, viewing and listening
public.
At the heart of the program are
its writing courses — newswriting, editing, reporting and feature
writing. These courses stress clarity, accuracy and depth of content
in a sequence designed to develop professional skills, sensitivity to
people and understanding of society.
Journalism majors may choose from
three options: News-Editorial, Public Relations or Visual Journalism . All require the basic core writing
courses and supervised internships, as well as a concentration of 12
credits of upper-division courses (such as history, political science,
English, economics, business or the arts) chosen by the student with
departmental approval. The News-Editorial sequence requires 79 credits.
The Public Relations sequence is 78 credits, including a required course
in Communications. The Visual Journalism sequence requires
82 credits, including an art or design class.
Majors and minors are required to
gain practical experience on student media. News-editorial majors must
take at least five newspaper/periodical staff courses, visual journalism majors four, and public relations majors
and journalism minors three. Most will be with the twice-weekly newspaper,
Western Front, but one is required with the twice-quarterly magazine,
Klipsun. The Planet, a quarterly magazine offered by Huxley College of Environmental Studies, is an optional staff
course. These courses provide peer-group learning, professional guidance
and review by journalism faculty advisers.
Finally, majors undertake field
internships of at least six weeks working under supervision in print
or broadcast newsrooms and editorial offices, in public relations or
advertising firms, or other organizations appropriate to the student's
area of study. Many students choose to do these in the summer, but it
can be completed any time before graduation. Students work closely with
mentors, file weekly reports on their experience and might be visited
on-site by a faculty supervisor during the internship.
Students progressing through the
program are encouraged to travel to a variety of conferences, to enter
competitions and to compete for scholarships. For many years,
The Western Front, Klipsun and The Planet have consistently won a number of awards
from the SPJ Region 10 Mark of Excellence Student Awards.
An informal job referral service is
maintained specifically for Western's journalism alumni and graduating
seniors. Journalism graduates are sought after to work across the country
and in Canada, on newspapers, magazines, in broadcasting, public relations,
public information positions, advertising and a variety of related fields.
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“We do not count heads before enforcing
the First Amendment.”
-Sandra Day O'Connor,
U.S. Supreme Court justice