Major Mondays: Journalism
Major: The Bachelor of Arts in Journalism is a multi-media undergraduate education offered by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. There are more than 300 students in this major, with 83 courses offered to allow for a flexible, personalized curriculum. Students studying Journalism learn about freedom of speech and press, the history of journalism, and an understanding of gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other forms of diversity in relation to mass communications. Students also learn about professional ethical principles, writing style, accuracy and fairness, clarity, numerical and statistical concepts, and relevant tools and technologies. There is an emphasis on critical, creative, and independent thought.
Unique Academic Opportunities: Located in Wallis Annenberg Hall, USC Annenberg’s Media Center provides students with a unique experiential learning opportunity. The Media Center has cutting-edge production facilities and high-tech equipment, allowing students to report on the web and on the air. Students produce and publish content for television, radio, podcasts, and digital. Faculty advisors with decades of industry experience guide the student editors and producers. There are multiple studios, news desks, edit bays, and even a central “halo” workspace surrounded 360 degrees by TV screens.
Professional Opportunities: The Annenberg Career Development office offers extensive internship opportunities and connects students to employers through company information sessions, on-campus interviews, career fairs, “Lunch with a Leader” guest speaker conversations, and job shadowing programs. Spring break career immersion trips both domestic and abroad are available— which are sometimes fully funded — as well as a two-week Maymester program. There is a daily “Annenberg Jobs and Internships of the Day” email newsletter. Three Journalism-specific and seven total Annenberg Progressive Degree Program (PDP) options are available for students to begin working on a master’s degree while completing their bachelor’s degree. All these resources contribute to the impressive statistic that 99% of USC Journalism class of 2021 graduates were employed within 12 months of graduation.
Research Opportunities: The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative (AII) is the leading think tank dedicated to studying diversity and inclusion in entertainment and developing research-based solutions to inequality in media representation. Writer’s note: I briefly did research for Annenberg Inclusion Initiative during the fall semester of my freshman year and was really impressed by their data-driven approach to fostering inclusion for marginalized groups!
The Annenberg Innovation Lab (AnnLab) works to ensure media and technology “work for humans — not against us.” They address complex issues at the intersections of media, technology, culture, and society. A recent featured project is the Arts & Climate Collective (ACC), which supports student work in using arts, culture, and storytelling to fight for environmental justice.
There are tons of other Annenberg research centers and programs available to Journalism students, including the Annenberg Research Network on International Communication, the Center for Health Journalism, the Center for Public Relations (CPR), the Center for the Digital Future, the Critical Media Project (CMP), JOVRNALISM, the Metamorphosis Project, the USC U.S.-China Institute, and more. All of Annenberg’s research opportunities are listed at https://annenberg.usc.edu/research.
Application Process: Prospective students can apply directly to this major using the Common Application. Supplemental materials will not be reviewed as part of the admission process. Portfolios, artwork, or news clippings are not required or encouraged for this major. USC Annenberg Admissions representatives conduct first-year information sessions as part of Meet USC. Learn more about applying to USC by visiting the USC Undergraduate Admissions website.
Want to learn more?
To read more about the Journalism program, check out their page on USC’s Course Catalogue.
You can also visit the Journalism web page via the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to read about the major.
Written by: Michael Pincus, USC Student Ambassador