Major in journalism
at Huntington University
and you will learn to hone phrases, interview experts, report
facts, write for Web and print media, master
Associated Press style points, and craft hard news and feature stories. But you will learn these skills
with a larger view to how the
stories journalists report fit into the broader institutional processes of
production and dissemination. You will study how the values of the surrounding society lead to the inclusion
or exclusion of story topics. And you will explore how Christian journalists can use their
craft to do
justice and practice mercy before God.
By the time you
graduate, you will have a solid base in journalism experience--evidenced by
those all-important "clippings" or photocopies of published articles that
employers want to see when hiring an editor or writer. You will also have
been coached by instructors who have real-world experience in the field, such
as Mike Perkins, editor of the Huntington city newspaper The Herald Press,
Jennifer Boen, a health reporter for
The News Sentinel in Fort Wayne, and
Dr. Kevin Miller, a features editor and writer for
Christianity Today
magazine before coming to Huntington University (Meet
the Communication Faculty).
Journalism students published their work in a variety of
venues. One is The
Huntingtonian campus newspaper,
where you can serve as an editor or reporter for sports,
entertainment, and news. (Click
here to see
current issues of the newspaper, how to join the newspaper staff, and what each position
pays for a year.) The Huntingtonian was awarded
first place in the fall
of 2007 for overall newspaper excellence for Division I schools in the
Baptist Press collegiate press competition. It also has won awards for top
design and news and feature stories in the last several years. Other opportunities for
journalism students include reporting and producing The Kicker, a
student-produced magazine with investigative,
editorial, and humor articles. We also guide you into summer and
semester-long internships
with newspapers and online news media companies. Click on the following links to read
just a sample of the many articles written by HU students in journalism classes and published in
area city
newspapers and online venues:
Sarah Goddard
feature story or
editorial
in the Martinsville, Ind., Reporter Times. Goddard
reported these stories during her residence as a Pulliam Internship
recipient, a competitive award granted from the Hoosier State Press
Association
Sarah Lang feature story in the
Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (click here
for an online version). Lang also
won a Pulliam Internship.
We are looking for students with the following traits:
The first is a persistent curiosity—the drive to understand
what makes things happen and why people do what they do. Here the
curiosity of a child to look behind doors and to question the obvious is a
strength.
The second is acritical sensibility—the ability to sense when not to take things on
face value. Good models of this are theWashington Post's
investigation ofWatergate and the prophet Nathan in the Old
Testament who confronts King David about his personal/political action of
having his top commander killed so that he could have the commander's wife,
Bathsheba.
The third is a compassionate attitude—the pattern of choosing to see the world as a
surgeon sees a patient, only here the pen or the keyboard, rather than the
scalpel, is the tool used to root out social cancers, to convey hope, to
build trust, to bring healing, and to celebrate life.
Courses in the
Journalism Major
In addition to taking college
general education courses, journalism majors take 15 hours of core
communication courses and 30 hours of journalism courses for a total of
45 credit hours in the major.
Communication Core Courses (15 credit hours)
These required courses for all communication majors--including
journalism majors--address the central issues within the communication
discipline from a Christian perspective as well as lay an applied foundation
of media writing skills.
CO 221 Introduction to Communication (3)
CO 241 Introduction to News Writing (3)
CO 211 Communication and Society (3)
SP 241 Interpersonal Communication (3)
CO 481 Mass Communication (3)
Journalism
Major Courses (30 credit hours)
In addition to
completing the 15 hours of core courses above, journalism students complete
30 hours from below for a major in communication with a concentration in
print journalism.
