Multimedia Journalism, BA

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The digital revolution has changed the way we gather, produce and disseminate news, but journalists are more in demand than ever. People always want to know what’s going on, and need responsible, ethical, accurate journalists to tell them. Our journalism program provides hands-on, multimedia experience in reporting, writing, editing, producing and publishing in state-of-the-art newsrooms and on mobile devices. The curriculum is structured around a core of six courses, introducing students to new technologies as they progress through increasingly more complex courses. The fundamental courses prepare students for advanced work in the major’s four concentrations: News & Features (with a sports option); Magazine; Broadcast Journalism (Television or Radio emphasis); and Health & Science Journalism.

Practicing and studying journalism enhances critical thinking, figuring out what the story is and how to get it, quickly, accurately and fairly. Students learn how to place news in a context that helps readers, listeners, and viewers make sense of the world. Good writing is paramount. Students are taught how to find, report and tell engaging stories that stand out in today’s complex media environment using social media, audio, video and still photography, on smart phones and DSLR cameras. Chicago is a terrific place to learn journalism, a world-class city known for its politics, architecture, music, theater, sports and literature. Journalism students cover stories alongside professional reporters as news breaks. Because of the College’s prime urban location, students have access to extensive internship opportunities, many of them paid positions. Our students earn competitive national and international internships. The Semester in Los Angeles (SILA-JO) program allows talented undergraduates to achieve a specialty in entertainment reporting across media platforms. We have a cooperative program with the Dublin Institute of Technology and many other international opportunities, including two or three journalism courses offered each year, most recently in Peru and Ireland. Students produce the respected Columbia College Chronicle, named best college weekly in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists. Broadcast Journalism students, in collaboration with the Television Department, produce Newsbeat, a live TV newscast, and Metro Minutes, a TV newsmagazine. Broadcast TV students have won highly competitive recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, awards known as the “Emmys.” Students can write and produce news for College radio station WCRX, and host their own talk and music shows. Magazine majors create Echo, an award-winning, four-color magazine. We stress portfolio-building, so students can show internship providers and hiring news editors and directors their professional-quality work, mentored by faculty who are actively engaged in the fields they teach. With outside grant support, professors founded ChicagoTalks and AustinTalks, online publications that cover the neighborhoods of the nation’s third-largest city, increasing multiplatform publishing opportunities for our students.

Students learn from adjunct instructors working for or contributing to Associated Press, Chicago magazine, Ebony, Jet, The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, Hoy, Telemundo, La Raza, CLTV, CBS-2, NBC-5, ABC-7, Fox News Chicago, the American Bar Association, and WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, as well as many trade magazines, online news sites, and other major media organizations.

The Journalism Department also offers a Second Bachelor of Arts degree program.

Department Website

Concentrations

Broadcast Journalism

Broadcast Journalism is an interdisciplinary program taught in cooperation with the Television and Radio departments. Students learn to report, write, and produce television and radio news, features, and in-depth stories. Student-produced television news programs, such as Metro Minutes, a newsmagazine focusing on arts and entertainment, and Newsbeat, a live TV newscast (news, weather, sports and features), are program highlights. Radio news students get hands-on training at Columbia’s radio station, WCRX, 88.1 FM. Students intern at major media outlets, including Chicago affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox, NPR, and Telemundo. Other opportunities include the Multimedia Sports course, which produces a web-based sports magazine show, and Windy City Webcast, an extracurricular activity that helps students gain more variety and experience for their audition reels.

Radio - Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool

TV - Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool

Health & Science Journalism

Taught in conjunction with the Science and Mathematics Department, the Health & Science concentration addresses a growing need for journalists who can bridge the gap between the medical/scientific community and the general public. This unique undergraduate program features a year-long sequence in science writing and reporting, taught by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author. This program seeks to prepare students for careers in print and electronic media, there are jobs for knowledgeable science communicators in government, industry, and academia, including at major hospitals, research center and laboratories, which are plentiful in the Chicago metropolitan area. Students interview world-class scientists at such places as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and report on renowned physicians and researchers at teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool

Magazine

The Magazine program prepares students for editorial positions in consumer and trade magazines. Students take courses in magazine writing and editing and have the opportunity to put their skills into practice working on Echo magazine, Columbia College’s national award-winning student publication. In this course, they work collaboratively with students in other majors, in particular, graphic designers, gaining real world skills. They also are encouraged to work as interns during their junior and senior years, in Chicago and elsewhere. Echo focuses on popular culture and the arts and often attracts Interdisciplinary majors aiming for careers in music and fashion journalism. The full-color magazine is circulated in key neighborhoods of this vibrant city. Its companion website and new mobile application acquaint students with the latest innovations in this dynamic field.

Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool

News, Features & Sports

The news concentration focuses on reporting and writing about public affairs across platforms, from deadline news to in-depth analysis. Students take advanced courses in community news, interpretive reporting and investigative journalism, and in specialized “beats,” such as courts, business, urban affairs, and the environment. In addition, a Sports Reporting emphasis is available, culminating in multimedia online and video productions. Future sports journalists gain additional knowledge and experience through related courses in other departments. Students in the College Newspaper Workshop and paid upper-class editors and reporters produce the outstanding Columbia Chronicle, the College’s weekly student newspaper, and its companion web site. Many students also write for the ChicagoTalks and AustinTalks web sites, and several of them have been winners and finalists in professional journalism award competitions.

News and Features - Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool

Sports - Degree Requirements | Transfer Planning Tool