What courses should you take if you want to study journalism?

Studying Journalism

Many colleges offer a degree in journalism. If you plan to major in journalism but are still in high school, you might consider taking classes in English and writing.

Here is more input:

• I have looked into that major too. If you want to be a news anchor or something like that, you want broadcast journalism. If you just want to be a reporter then a regular journalism degree is what you want. That would include a lot of English classes, some journalism classes, and probably some public speaking or communication classes.

Many newspaper editors indicate that they prefer to hire reporters with English majors rather than journalism majors, as English majors often have stronger writing skills.

Warning: Attending journalism classes does NOT make you a better journalist. The benefits of taking these programs is dubious at best. It is recommended that you simply start writing for any possible publication, such as a student newspaper, local community newsletter, or start your own blog.


Another viewpoint: I studied journalism at Langara College in Vancouver 20 years ago, and found that it did, in fact, improve my journalistic skills tremendously (I still have an active career in writing, although I now write fiction and poetry as opposed to news). In addition to the core courses, we also studied history, economics, English and political science. I would strongly recommend you include as many of these "peripheral" subjects as possible in your studies. Being a journalist carries with it a responsibility to your readers: the broader your base of education, the more well-positioned you are to report the news accurately and knowledgeably.

First answer by Joel Iglesias. Last edit by El Gordo. Contributor trust: 57 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 161 [recommend question]