JOURNALISM LINKS

Concentrations:

Information:

MASSCOM LINKS

MTSU LINKS

Future Students:

Current Students:

An accredited four-year program

The School of Journalism at Middle Tennessee State University offers an internationally recognized and accredited program designed to equip students with both the professional and technical knowledge necessary to be successful in today’s, and tomorrow’s, work environment.

Courses are taught by academically distinguished and professionally experienced faculty that includes 20 full-time tenured and tenure-track professors. The School emphasizes the fundamentals—writing, reporting and ethics—along with contemporary topics such as social media, integrated marketing communications and entrepreneurship.

The College of Mass Communication, of which the School of Journalism is a part, has launched the Center for Innovation in Media, bringing together the University’s two campus radio stations, WMOT and WMTS, and the school newspaper, Sidelines, along with TV broadcasting facilities. With the center’s opening, the School will further expand its course offerings that emphasize the acquisition of digital multimedia skills.

Areas of Study

There are five concentrations within the school, each with its own core faculty:
• Advertising
• Journalism
• Media Studies
• Public Relations
• Visual Communication

These sequences are designed to provide practical skills and experience in laboratory courses, fieldwork and internships while acquainting students with the history, theory, ethics, social responsibility and law of mass communication. Admission to the School requires candidacy in one of the concentrations.

The College of Mass Communication also offers graduate studies leading to a Master of Science degree in Mass Communication.

For new Journalism School students:

How to major in Journalism, and information on the concentrations:

News and features of the Journalism School

Student opportunities for Spring 2014:
Scholarships and writing competitions

Christopher Nathan Bell Memorial Scholarship annual writing competition
$1,000, $750 and $500 prizes to be awarded to junior or senior newspaper/magazine journalism majors.
Deadline Feb. 24. Details: Chris_Bell_competition.Sp14.doc

Diversity Internship scholarship awards
School of Journalism Diversity Scholarship: $500
Journalism Internship Annual Scholarship: $500
Deadlines Mar. 5. Details: Diversity_Internship_scholarship_awards.Sp14.doc

Douglas E. Stults Memorial Scholarship
$1,000 and $750 to be awarded to sophomore or higher newspaper/magazine journalism majors.
Deadline Feb. 26. Details: Douglas_Stults_Scholarship.Sp14.doc

Himebaugh Scholarship
$1,000 to sophomore or higher School of Journalism major (any concentration).
Deadline Feb. 20. Details: Himebaugh_Scholarship.Sp14.doc

Summer reporting roadtrip:
MTSU students travel state

Journalism students in professor Leon Alligood’s summer reporting class traveled the state, visiting local communities. Many of their stories were published in the communities’ newspapers.

Watch video of the trip here: Summer roadtrip.

Advertising / Public Relations Concentrations:
MTSU students win national natural-gas ad campaign contest

MTSU students have won top honors and a $5,000 prize in a nationwide collegiate advertising competition to promote natural gas usage.

Five members of MTSU’s “Natural Solutions” team, representing the 18 students in a spring 2013 advertising and public relations campaigns course taught by Dr. Tricia Farwell, were in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for the finals of the America’s Natural Gas Alliance Collegiate Energy Challenge.

Read more here: MTSU Student News.

Seigenthaler News Service:
Judicial Reporting Project

The Seigenthaler News Service, a project of the MTSU School of Journalism, launched the Federal Judicial System Reporting Project last Fall, a program designed to give MTSU students an opportunity to become immersed in daily reporting on activities in U.S. District Courts and other federal law enforcement operations at the Federal Court House in Nashville.

In the initial class, seven students spent eight hours a day, five days a week reporting and writing stories for publication in The Tennessean and in other Gannett publications. The students operated out of The Tennessean’s newsroom under the supervision of MTSU School of Journalism professor Wendell Rawls, who is also the director of the Seigenthaler Chair in the College of Mass Communication. He has been assisted by Dwight Lewis, former editor of The Tennessean’s editorial page and former beat reporter.

The project will continue this Spring and in the future with plans to include students from other departments such as Political Science, Business Law and Criminal Justice.

Mass Comments

Mass Comments is the online newsletter of the College of Mass Communication of which the School of Journalism is a part. If you’re interested in the College or the School, Mass Comments is a rich source of information about programs and events taking place in both. Most of the content is created by journalism students. Click here to go to the newsletter page.

Professional Advisory Board

The Journalism School has established an advisory board composed of fifteen professionals from print, radio and broadcast journalism, as well as public affairs and education, who have been asked to provide advice, support and developmental leadership to the School of Journalism. The board was first convened in September 2012. To learn more about the board, go to the Professional Advisory Board page.

ACEJMC Accreditation

The College of Mass Communication and the School of Journalism are accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, the oldest and largest alliance of journalism and mass communication educators and administrators at the college level. The College successfully completed its most recent re-accreditation process in Fall 2010.

Kappa Tau Alpha Chapter

The College of Mass Communication has received approval for a chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha, a national journalism and mass communication honor society. KTA is the seventh oldest national honor society and is dedicated to the encouragement and recognition of excellence in scholarship. KTA is awarded to students ranking in the top 10 percent of their junior, senior or graduate classes.

15 current and former MTSU Journalism students were inducted in 2013: 2013 inductees.

MTSU Poll

The MTSU Poll, sponsored by the Office of Communication Research, is a twice-yearly survey of public attitudes toward government, the media, lifestyles, and other topics of importance. It is run by two School of Journalism faculty, Drs. Ken Blake and Jason Reineke, who teach in the Journalism concentration. Results of the poll receive wide publicity in area newspapers and broadcast media. Poll results are used in the classroom to demonstrate polling techniques and interpretation.
Visit the MTSU Poll Website.