Especially for Journalists

Journalism at UMW

If you’re interested in working in journalism or related fields, the two most important things you’ll want to make sure you have coming out of your undergraduate experience are (1) a strong portfolio of your newspaper clips–copies of your published articles (NOT manuscripts of work you’ve done in your classes), and (2) substantive internship experience. Concomitant with these will be references from three professionals who can vouch for your training and potential.

At UMW our focus is on print journalism: writing for newspapers and magazines. This training and experience in print journalism is transferable into other areas of journalism–broadcast, public relations, corporate communications, internet, advocacy work, etc.–though we don’t offer classes specifically in those areas.

Our journalism program consists of roughly three parts. First of these is the journalism course sequence of ENGL 200 (News Gathering), ENGL 300 (News Writing), and ENGL 301 (Magazine Writing). ENGL 200 counts as an elective in the major; the other two courses fulfill the upper-level writing requirement in the major.

The second component of the journalism program at Mary Washington is experience as a writer and/or editor on the award-winning student newspaper, The Bullet. ELC offers a one-credit practicum, ENGL 380, for students interested in working on The Bullet, which offers training in information gathering, interviewing, writing, revision, editing, newspaper management, and layout and design. Students can take ENGL 380 every semester, but only 3 of those credits can count toward the ELC major, as elective credit in the major.

The third component is the internship. ELC and the journalism program are guaranteed 3-4 internships fall and spring semester at the local newspaper, The Free Lance-Star, and several ELC alumni have been hired at the paper as a result of their internship experience. We also have students in internships at a variety of other area newspaper, radio and TV stations, and journalistic and advocacy organizations in the Washington D.C. area.

While some students interested in journalism do go to graduate school to continue their studies in the discipline, most of our journalism graduates go straight into the work world where they find they have sufficient experience and training–from the classes, The Bullet, and their internships–to land entry level jobs in reporting or editing.

For more information, or for information about Special Majors in Journalism, contact Prof. Mike McCarthy, 540.654.1033, mmccart2@umw.edu.

Useful links for journalists

American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Society of Professional Journalists.