Journalism A.B.
Chair: Professor Hatcher
Journalism sustains democracy by keeping citizens informed about their world. The Journalism Department gives life to the First Amendment by promoting a free press and teaching the skills necessary to seek facts, write, produce and report news, information and other significant matters in a transparent manner. A major in journalism provides students with the knowledge and technical skills used in contemporary media platforms, and an understanding of legal and ethical professional practices that are needed to tell objective stories for the public good. Students learn to report through finding and interviewing sources and interpreting data in order to tell fair, informative, and compelling stories.
The Journalism A.B. degree requires 53 credit hours in JOU, COM, CDE, CTA, MEA or STC, plus 2 hours IDS 1150.
See School of Communications for additional program requirements and course descriptions.
Major Requirements
Required courses: 45-46 sh
Select one course from the following: 4 sh
Elective Hours - 8 sh
- Four hours of JOU elective credit
- Four hour of elective credit from COM, CDE, CTA, JOU, MEA, or STC
Total Credit Hours: 53-54
REQUIRED MINOR, DOUBLE MAJOR OR SEMESTER ABROAD:
To promote academic depth, all students must complete a minor, double major outside of the School of Communications or a semester abroad (totaling 12 credit hours or more) in an Elon-approved program. Study USA programs do not qualify as a semester abroad.
Program Outcomes
Students learn how to tell compelling, fair, informative, and ethical news stories in the public interest.
Students learn to find and interview sources, interpret, and use data, and write, edit, and produce news stories on all media platforms.
Students will be able to articulate the value of truth, accuracy and fairness; describe the importance of access to information to ensure these values.
Students will be able to explain the motivations and actions of different types of sources for news, including understanding the job of media relations, such as news releases and press kits.
Students will be able to evaluate reporting on race and intersectional identity, as well as historical, cultural, and societal causes of systemic and structural inequity.
Students will be able to analyze news engagement on social media and make recommendations on future coverage, including the ethics of online promotion.
Students will be able to assess how technology in news can affect diverse groups, such as sampling issues with social media, effect of lighting on skin tones, algorithmic bias, and disability access.
Students will be able to write accurate, responsible headlines and captions that convey the essence of a story, including employing diverse perspectives in topics, sources, and images.
Students will be able to pitch and market their ideas in an entrepreneurial way, and learn about freelance writing.
Students will be able to learn how technology can affect diverse groups, such as the effect of lighting on skin tones, and disability access.
Students will be able to explain how their reporting, writing, and producing practices enhance diversity in news coverage.
Students will be able to plan and produce multimedia reporting projects using data, diverse sources, public records, and the tools of technology.
Total Credit Hours: 53-54