Academics»Undergraduate Journalism

Program Information

Application Information

Curriculum

Building upon USC Annenberg’s record of innovation in journalism education, the BA in Journalism offers a forward-thinking curriculum that encourages students to embrace technology, assess it critically, and employ it in the service of powerful and effective journalism. Team-taught courses leverage faculty expertise in video, audio, text, and digital journalism to help students establish their reporting and writing expertise across multiple platforms. Through a newly integrated Media Center experience, students will acquire the editing, production, and digital storytelling skills to produce journalism across a range of media. At the conclusion of the degree program, students will complete an advanced reporting project that showcases their abilities.

Students are required to complete 44 units for the major, including 30 units required core courses.

Required Courses, Lower Division

  • JOUR 201 Culture of Journalism: Past, Present and Future (4 units)
  • JOUR 206 Reporting and Writing Practicum (1 unit, 2 units required)
  • JOUR 207 Reporting and Writing I (3 units)

Required Courses, Upper Division

  • JOUR 307 Reporting and Writing II (3 units)
  • JOUR 320 Introduction to Coding for Storytelling (2 units)
  • JOUR 321 Visual Journalism (2 units)
  • JOUR 322 Introduction to Investigative and Data Journalism (2 units)
  • JOUR 372 Engaging Diverse Communities (2 units)
  • JOUR 414 Advanced Digital Media Storytelling (2 units)
  • JOUR 462 Law of Mass Communication (4 units)

Annenberg Experience

Choose one of the following required core courses (4 units total):

  • ASCJ 200 Navigating Media and News in the Digital Age (4 units)
  • JOUR 300 Journalism and Society (4 units)

Advanced Reporting Elective

Choose one course:

  • JOUR 402 Advanced Video Reporting (6 units)
  • JOUR 403 Television News and Sports Production (6 units)
  • JOUR 405 Non-Fiction Television (4 units)
  • JOUR 409 Radio Storytelling and Podcasts (4 units)
  • JOUR 448 Government and Public Affairs Reporting (4 units)

Upper-Division Electives

Complete 8-10 upper-division journalism or public relations elective units chosen in consultation with your adviser. Note: Students who choose a 4-unit Advanced Reporting course will need 10 units of upper-division electives; students who choose a 6-unit Advanced Reporting course will need 8 units of upper-division electives. 

This page is based on the current 2023-2024 USC Catalogue. The 2024-2025 USC Catalogue will be published in summer 2024.