Courses.

JOUR 5091 Projects.

Projects was my Grady capstone class and mimicked a newsroom environment. I applied my journalistic knowledge and skills from the past four years in the production of multiplatform journalism projects. This class was taught by Dodie Cantrell-Bickley who spent seven years leading CBS, NBC and ABC stations as president/general manager.

JOUR 5640 Business of News.

Business of News focused on management, leadership concepts, and techniques relevant to news media firms and entrepreneurial endeavors. This study of creating news within for-profit and not-for-profit models examined business structures, strategy and innovation, data analytics, product development, human resources emphasizing diversity and inclusion, and media economics.

JOUR 7590 Critical Writing.

Critical writing taught me to hone fundamental opinion-writing and analysis skills. The class was taught by Professor Valerie Boyd, the former arts editor at the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

JOUR 4090 Multiplatform Story Production.

In Multiplatform Story Production, I developed enterprise news stories across platforms. This included producing a long-form web story with links and references, a video story (television news package), a photo essay, a radio story, a “back story” (explaining issues with the reporting), and a webcast explaining some aspect of the story in depth.

JRLC 5040 Law of Mass Communication.

In Law of Mass Communication, I acquired practical legal knowledge to learn how to protect myself concerning issues such as copyright as well as how to use the law to serve my professional goals; To understand judicial reasoning and constitutional tools; To apply legal principles, law and reasoning to real and hypothetical cases involving the media and media professions.

JOUR 5320 Journalism Ethics & Diversity.

For one of my elective credits, I chose to take Journalism Ethics & Diversity. This class explored complicated issues related to ethics and diversity, which inevitably arise in the news media but defy clear-cut answers. The course considered social responsibility and presented a contemporary framework for transparency and community with a focus on diversity as a guiding journalistic principle.

JOUR 3380 Graphics.

Graphics served as an introduction to digital design and visual composition. I learned how to apply design and user-centered concepts to journalistic storytelling involving layout, data visualization, web/mobile design, basic coding, interactives, social media, and basic animation. With ethics at the forefront, I planned and designed products for print, digital, and social environments.

JOUR 3330 Intro to Photojournalism.

Introduction to Photojournalism introduced me to basic photography within the construct of photojournalism, with a heavy emphasis on the technical aspect of image creation and workflow production, dealing with controlling focus, exposure, composition, captioning, and digital preparation. Throughout the course I produced portraits, news, and feature photos for a mass audience.

JOUR 3190 Journalism Writing.

This course centered around reporting, writing, and editing a variety of journalistic story types for multiple platforms including print or web, video, audio, and blogs. It allowed me to demonstrate my competency as a writer while developing stories for particular audiences, making sound judgements on newsworthiness of events and ideas and making ethical judgements in my journalistic endeavors.

JOUR 3090 Information Gathering.

Information Gathering introduced me to the various methods journalists use to ensure transparency in government and business. Throughout the course, I gathered news and information via observation, interviewing, capturing visuals, accessing documents, and analyzing data. A special emphasis was placed on real-world newsgathering scenarios, fact-finding, accuracy, and comprehensive storytelling.

JOUR 3030 Media, News & Consumers.

My first journalism class focused on the relationship between media and society. Because of the First Amendment’s commitment to freedom of press and speech, attention is focused on news. This course taught me to become a critical consumers of media and explored how media creates and disseminates messages while focusing on current issues in all media forms.