Journalism & Mass Communication

In our classrooms, computer labs and broadcast studio, our faculty of award-winning journalists and academics teach students to report, produce and write for all forms of media. Classes include database and multi-platform reporting, investigative journalism, environmental journalism and studio production. The curriculum also focuses on the role journalism and media play in civic and political life.

Students can choose to either major or minor in the Journalism and Mass Communication program which will provide practical skills and an academic background in the role and effects of journalism and media messages. The program emphasizes analysis and critical thinking as students pursue the practical study of media and journalism, media law, history, processes, ethics and effects.

• Apply to the Program

JMC Major Degree Requirements

Students interested in the Journalism and Mass Communication major should fill out the CCAS Decleration of Major curriculum worksheet. 

• Course Requirements
• Curriculum Worksheet (PDF)

JMC Minor Degree Requirements 

Students interested in the Journalism and Mass Communication minor should fill out a declaration form (PDF), declaring the minor before the end of their junior year. Professor Huebner is the JMC minor faculty advisor.

A PDF of the JMC Minor Requirements can be found here. 

Internship Opportunities

Being located in the heart of D.C., students have the unique opportunity to apply to internships that are right around the corner from campus. SMPA provides access to dozens of internship opportunities through our weekly Above The Fold newsletter.

The ‘Impeachment Intern’

As a Capitol Hill intern for CBS News, Lauren Peller worked long hours during the months of President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings. In fact, she spent so much time covering the event her colleagues playfully dubbed her the “Impeachment Intern.” Ms. Peller, who worked with CBS Evening News over the summer, began her internship with the news service on the Hill in September, just before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)  announced that six House committees would commence a formal impeachment inquiry against Mr. Trump.

"No one knew that an impeachment would unfold, so I couldn’t have asked for a better time to have landed this internship on Capitol Hill just because of the historic nature of what I covered,” she said. “I had no clue I would be able to help contribute to one of the most important stories in American history with CBS. It was really cool to be up there."

Where Our Graduates Work

 

 

 

SMPA Alumna Journalist Amplifies Voices for Racial Justice 

In 2015, as a senior journalism and mass communications major, Zinhle Essamuah, BA ’15, MA ’17 won SMPA’s Manheim-Sterling Undergraduate Research Prize and traveled to Ferguson, Mo., in the wake of the police shooting of Michael Brown. She followed protestors through the city’s streets, her camera capturing the cries of clergy, community leaders and young activists demanding racial justice. Her resulting documentary Hands Up won awards at film festivals around the country and has become a resource guide for schools and community groups.