Journalism Degree Program

Credits: 3

Description: An overview of the historical development, technological evolution, current status, and future direction of mass communication. Differences between mass communication systems will be explored, as well as mass communication effects on its audiences.

Credits: 3

Description: An introduction to journalism and journalistic writing. Students in this course work as beginning reporters for the college newspaper.

Credits: 3

Description: An in-depth investigation of the ethical foundations underlying conduct of media professionals.

Credits: 3

Description: In-depth critical perspective of mass communication theoretical development and audience effects, including short- and long-term media socialization, political propaganda, advertising, social control, and characteristics shared by all media.

Prerequisite: CNA 263 Introduction to Mass Communication

Credits: 3

Description: An overview of the laws, regulations, and court cases affecting personal and organizational communication. Topics addressed include freedom of speech, libel and slander, privacy, regulation of advertising, copyright and trademark, and internet and media law. Case studies emphasize how the courts interpret and apply the law.

Credits: 3

Description: Students enrolled in this seminar will develop a cumulative portfolio of work that demonstrates the growth of their abilities in various areas of mass communication while developing tools for career readiness. The portfolio may include any of the following types of student work: writing, photography, audio, video, or electronic media projects. In conjunction with faculty, students research regional and national media employment trends, and develop a portfolio that best reflects their chosen mass communication career. Faculty will review the portfolio and conduct a qualitative exit interview for the purpose of program review and assessment. The review of the portfolio and the exit interview must be completed to graduate.

Prerequisite: 90 hours

Credits: 3

Description: Practical application of skills learned in other classes to direct, produce, and coordinate content development in journalism. Workshop hours beyond those required in CNA majors and minors may be taken as electives in CNA or as general elective credits with the permission of the advisor. Students who are not Mass Communication majors may enroll with permission of the instructor. Course fee of $10 per credit hour required.

Prerequisite: Approval of instructor and C or above in CNA 280 News Writing. Prerequisite courses cannot be taken concurrently.

Credits: 3

Description: Application of copy editing activities used in various media platforms. The goal is to think like editors and to adopt the skills and attitudes they use in their work, regardless of the medium. Skills that the course focuses on include working with words (copy editing), working with meaning (content editing), and working with page layout and design (page editing). Attitudes involve editorial decision-making as well as learning to mentor and work with writers. Relevant to production of newspapers, newsletters, yearbooks, and other editorial pieces.

Credits: 3

Description: An introduction to planning, shooting, and processing still photographs for newspapers, magazines, and other print media. Designed for the student with little or no background in news photography. Laboratory experience on the college newspaper. Course fee of $10 per credit hour required.

Credits: 3

Description: An overview of multiplatform journalism from brainstorming story ideas to interviewing, writing for the web and broadcast, and multimedia journalism skills. Students will learn how to organize electronic newscasts and create online news stories using current applications.

Prerequisite: CNA 280 News Writing

Credits: 3

Description: Course deals with major political, social, and economic developments that have local news interest. Complex, off- campus reporting on judicial system and court reporting, environmental, criminal justice, budgets, labor and employment, housing, poverty, etc. Will examine how bias and ideological framing arise from news routines.

Prerequisite: CNA 280 News Writing and one course in Social Sciences

Credits: 3

Description: The internship program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to integrate career-related work experience with classroom learning. Work experiences occur in positions relevant to journalism. Internships generally require 40-50 work hours for each 1 hour of credit. Contact WSC Career Services, your academic advisor, or department chair for specific details.

Students pursuing the 48-hour program will take the above courses from the 36-hour option plus an additional 12 credit hours from the following:

• ART 363 Digital Photography (3 credits) - Offers an opportunity to learn visual communication, recording, expression, and appreciation of digital photographic process basics. The course includes photography basics such as composition, lighting, camera care, use of photographic equipment, computer and printing processes, organizational methods, technical terminology, and the introduction to industry standard software to manipulate and enhance digital images. 6 hours studio. Class fee of $10 per credit hour required.
• BUS 270 Principles of Marketing (3 credits) - This course facilitates students in conquering the essential concepts of product, price, promotion, distribution, segmentation, ethics, and social responsibility, while addressing the evolving digital and social media influences. The fundamentals will be stressed allowing for useful decision processes by managers while encouraging the development of the marketing specialist as one of the key decision makers in a firm. Marketing is critical to implementing strategy, gaining competitive advantages, and ensuring positive organizational results.
• BUS 374 Advertising and Integrated Marketing (3 credits) - Through study of the most dynamic and revolutionary concepts of advertising and integrated marketing, students will become leaders in using the major marketing communication tools of advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, internet, and social media and mobile marketing. Utilizing an integrated marketing communications (IMC) planning model, students will gain the skills necessary to research and evaluate a company's marketing and promotional situation and use various methods to develop effective communication strategies and programs to achieve the organization's marketing objective. Prerequisite: BUS 270 Principles of Marketing.
• CNA 102 Media Literacy (3 credits) - Provides students with the skills to analyze media messages critically to become active and engaged citizens. The course focuses on the historical evolution of U.S. mass media and provides a critical understanding of the political, economic, and social forces that structure U.S. media institutions and influence media content.
• CNA J220/320/420 Communication Arts Workshop (3 credits) - Practical application of skills learned in other classes to direct, produce, and coordinate content development in journalism. Workshop hours beyond those required in CNA majors and minors may be taken as electives in CNA or as general elective credits with the permission of the advisor. Students who are not Mass Communication majors may enroll with permission of the instructor. Course fee of $10 per credit hour required. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor and C or above in CNA 280 News Writing.
• CNA 301 Advertising Copywriting (3 credits) - An introduction to the strategies of writing and presenting promotional and advertising copy, including brand promises, calls to action, and the stylistic content requirements of traditional print and broadcast media, social media, and other content sources, in written, audio, and video formats, Includes an introduction to the purposes of advertising, sales, and marketing.
• CNA 352 Organizational Presentations (3 credits) - Develop expertise, poise, and confidence in presenting professional informative, persuasive, deliberative, and epideictic speeches for public, private, or business organizations. Emphasis is placed on theory and application of public speaking, speech criticism, and listening skills in culturally diverse business and professional settings. Students employ presentation software when delivering a variety of business presentations such as informative, after-dinner, persuasive, sales advertising, and team speeches.
• CNA 374 Public Relations (3 credits) - A study of the principles and practices of effective public relations with exercises and projects emphasizing application of media skills for business, educational, and political communication.
• CNA 391/491 Special Project in Communication (3 credits) - Study of a topic, or a presentation in a special area of interest. Title of the project will be entered on the permanent record. A maximum of 12 hours to apply toward a major or endorsement is determined by the appropriate department chair. Prerequisite: Approval of the instructor or department chair.
• CNA 392 Sports Writing (3 credits) - Introduction to theory and practice of sports writing in various media. Students will analyze exemplary literature in the field as well as write game reports for publication in the college newspaper. Useful for students interested in such areas as critical sports studies, sports management, and journalism.
• CNA 426 Public Relations through Social Media (3 credits) - An introduction to current systems and practices used in public relations to create and maintain internet-based interactive communications with customers and constituents. Students will create content hands-on and will be able to apply a conceptual framework including branding programs, integrated marketing communications, and other professional, legal, and ethical standards and practices. This course draws from the fields of public relations writing, photography, video production, and/or other types of multimedia content creation.
• CNA 453 Integrated Brand Promotion (3 credits) - An exploration of strategic communication combining advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing, and other marketing communication functions to build relationships with constituents for business, organizations, and other groups. Includes case studies and hands-on projects. Prerequisite: Junior standing or by approval.
• CNA 454 Advanced Web Development (3 credits) - Advanced web applications, animation, and database/active-server pages. Includes focus on the function of the worldwide web in professional settings. Prerequisite: CNA 426 Public Relations through Social Media.
• CNA 457 Special Topics in Communication (3 credits) - A detailed study of a particular aspect of communication, such as, but not limited to, political communication, gender and communication, communication, and aging. Topic varies and the course can be repeated up to three times for credit covering a different topic.
• CNA 463 Advanced Media Writing (3 credits) - A writing-intensive class that focuses on advanced writing skills applicable to multi-media, cross-platform writing. Includes a broad-based grounding in stylistic elements and allows individual students to focus on specific types of writing for detailed exploration, including, but not limited to, in-depth print and electronic journalistic writing, screen writing, and other interests. Uses a writer’s community format for interactive peer support. Emphasizes writing processes as well as outcomes. Prerequisite: One of the following: CNA 262 Writing for the Mass Media, CNA 280 News Writing, CNA 377 Public Relations Writing, CNA 390 Multiplatform Journalism, CNA 458 Advanced News Writing and Reporting
• CNA 467 Intercultural Communication (3 credits) - A course aimed at developing a thorough understanding of communication and culture, in both global and community settings, and the way members of diverse cultures and subcultures utilize unique systems, symbols, and media representation to communicate among themselves and other groups. Emphasis on media representation of minority groups and U.S.-sponsored health/public welfare campaigns in developing nations will enable students to critically assess the communication process in a cultural context.
• ENG 200 Expository Writing (3 credits) - This course is intended to refine writing skills learned in earlier composition classes. The course will deal exclusively with expository writing (that is, nonfiction prose essays that explain, analyze, and evaluate ideas) and topics will vary considerably. Class time will be divided between discussing examples of expository writing and working to improve individual writing. Prerequisite: ENG 102 Composition Skills or an equivalent course.
• ENG 206 Workplace Writing (3 credits) - This course focuses on writing genres commonly used in professional workplaces, including correspondence (letters, memos, and emails) as well as reports, proposals, and lab reports. Students will learn to write polished, professional communication, focusing content for specific audiences and contexts. The instruction emphasizes audience and situational analysis, clarity, professional tone and style, as well as elements of format and pattern, research, and revision techniques. Prerequisite: ENG 102 Composition Skills or an equivalent course.
• ENG 321 Literary Editing (3 credits) - Application of editing techniques through the production of smaller publications, including chapbooks, book promotional materials, and basic literary event planning. Publishing ethics are addressed along with a look at various publishing and printing processes. Prerequisite: ENG 221 Editing for Publication.
• ENG 426 Linguistic Theory and Apps (3 credits) - A linguistic study primarily of English, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, orthography, historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology.
• GEO 305 Political Geography (3 credits) - A study of geographic factors as they pertain to national and international political problems.
• POS 350 The American Presidency (3 credits) - The study and analysis of the development of the contemporary presidency, presidential powers, responsibilities, and political relationships.
• POS 402 State and Local Politics (3 credits) - The study of the political institutions and process at state and local levels.
• POS 430 Public Policy (3 credits) - The study of domestic policymaking processes and institutions at all levels, taught from an intergovernmental relations perspective.