Journalism Major, B.A.; B.S.
B.A. and B.S. degrees
A Journalism Major requires 42 hours of journalism coursework.
The Journalism Department requires that ALL graduating seniors take an exit exam prior to graduation as part of the department’s assessment effort.
Admission Requirements, Retention & Termination Standards
Students majoring in Journalism must meet the criteria established by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. That means that they must take 72 semester credit hours of their degree work outside of the major. Students may take a maximum of 52 hours under the JRN designator. They must take liberal arts and sciences courses in compliance with CMU’s University Program requirements, listed under the University Program and area requirements for the B.A. or B.S. degree. A grade of C or better is required in each course counted toward the Journalism Major and an overall grade point average of 2.5 for all journalism courses counted toward the major .
The last 18 hours of journalism course work leading to a journalism major should be taken within the Journalism Department of CMU. No more than 3 credits of journalism internship can be applied toward the major.
Each student must consult with a Department of Journalism faculty advisor before registering for courses each semester to ensure orderly progress toward meeting these requirements.
Program Requirements
Required Courses I (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 101 | Media and Society | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 102 | Introduction to Journalism | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses II (21 hours)
Required Courses III (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 372 | The Asian Media and Cross-cultural Mass Communication | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 380 | Racial and Cultural Diversity: Mass Media's Role | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses IV (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 448 | Journalism Practicum | 1-3(Spec) |
| JRN 449 | Journalism Internship | 3(Spec) |
Required Courses V (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 445 | Multimedia Reporting Capstone | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 500 | Current Issues in Mass Communication | 3(3-0) |
Electives (9 hours)
Select from the following:
| JRN 250 | Social Media: Managing the Message | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 302 | Introduction to Graphics and Visual Communication | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 339 | Social Media: Reputation, Image and Interaction | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 417 | Sports Reporting | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 423 | Online Visual Storytelling | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 430WI | Magazine and Feature Writing | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 440 | Advanced Digital Journalism | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 441 | Data Journalism | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 516WI | Public Affairs Reporting | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 597 | Special Studies | 1-6(Spec) |
OR another JRN course as approved by the advisor.
Total: 42 semester hours
Please note that JRN 339WI, JRN 348WI, JRN 417, JRN 440, JRN 441 are offered mostly in the fall while JRN 423, JRN 445 and JRN 516WI are offered mostly in the spring semester.