MASS COMMUNICATIONS AND JOURNALISM

The health of a democracy is deeply connected to the health of a free press. Thomas Jefferson thought so highly of the importance of the press’ role in guarding the people’s rights that he stated: “If I had to choose between a government without a free press and a free press without government, I would choose the latter.” From the hey-day of its nationally celebrated civil rights leader and alumnus Whitney M. Young, Jr. to its connections with Kentucky’s black owned or operated newspapers and indeed throughout its some 120 years of great achievements and challenges, Kentucky State University’s own history has been deeply entwined with the exercise of a free press. All three aspects of Kentucky State’s mission – liberal studies, land grant status (especially the mass communications facilities of the land grant program), and its status as an HBCU --, coalesce together in a B. A. program in Mass Communications and Journalism.

Unconditional admission to the B. A. program in Mass Communications and Journalism requires the following:

• The student must be in good academic standing with the University;
• The student must have completed with a passing mark (C or above) the pre-requisite English courses, namely, ENG 101-English Composition I and ENG 102-English Composition II;
• The student must have a 3.0 Grade Point Average (4.0 scale) in English courses taken prior to application to the Journalism major;
• The student must submit a letter of application articulating his or her interest in Journalism.

Students who do not hold the 3.0 GPA in English coursework may be considered for conditional admission, but must receive consent of the Journalism faculty and will be placed in a probationary status for the first academic year of coursework in Journalism.

Major Program in Mass Communications and Journalism

The major has three components: 1) a 30 credit hour “core” of fundamental coursework in basic journalism and mass communication, 2) a 12 credit hour “concentration” in the student’s choice of more advanced coursework options in Print Journalism, Broadcast Journalism or Public Relations, and 3) a 9 credit hour selection of elective courses which offer appropriate, relevant support for the student’s choice of a mass communication or journalism concentration:

I. 30 Credit Hours within the MCJ Core (For All Concentrations)

JOU 204 Journalism

JOU 210 Introduction to Mass Communication

JOU 215 Mass Communications and Society

JOU 305 Communication Law ad Ethics

JOU 322 Introduction to Digital Photojournalism

ENG 361 Journalism II

ENG 362 News Editing

ENG 364 Desktop/Web Publishing

ENG 365 Advanced Public Affairs Reporting

ENG 366 Seminar in Public Relations

II. 12 Credit Hours in a Selected Concentration

Concentration in Print Journalism

JOU 363 Magazine and Features Writing

JOU 368 Community Journalism (Print)

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