Letter from the Chair
The Department of Journalism is a community of faculty and students engaged with telling the stories of and interpreting and analyzing the issues facing society. Our focus is on information-gathering, writing, and capturing the sounds and images necessary to inform the public. Our faculty are all practitioners and some are also scholars whose work examines journalism’s role in society, with an eye toward ways to elevate practice.
 Journalism is undergoing many changes that are making it a more challenging and interesting field, with increasing opportunities for those who prepare themselves by mastering writing, reporting, and technology, and knowing how to navigate knowledge from the many disciplines, from the humanities, social sciences, and life and physical sciences, that contribute to students’ education. We encourage our students to work closely with faculty to customize their studies in ways that will make them ready participants in the new landscape of journalism. Initiatives such as our annual course abroad offerings have given students the opportunity to study media and culture in London, Paris, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Barcelona. During the summer of 2014, 19 students and two professors went to Normandy and Paris to report on events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion and liberation of Paris. We also have reporting projects centered on local issues as well.
Our goal is for students to have many different layers of experience as part of their students. Co-curricular activities such as work on the student newspaper, The Recorder, and other campus media, as well as participation in the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) provide opportunities for experience and professional networking. Our Sigrid Schultz Scholarship competition has made it possible for many of our students to travel abroad or make time for internships.
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BA in Journalism graduates who immerse themselves in their studies and co-curricular activities are doing well on the job market. Recent graduates have been hired after successful internships at The Hartford Courant, Danbury News-Times and Journal Inquirer. Our broadcast journalism students are on the air or behind the scenes producing at television stations such as WWLP, WFSB, WTNH, WTIC Fox61and ESPN. Others are successful in social media, online content creation, and graduate and law school. BA in Journalism will take you wherever you want to go.
I invite existing and prospective Central students to visit the department to see what our community might offer you as a major or minor in journalist, or student who wants to pursue journalism courses as electives. The writing, research, technological skills, and ability to communicate about important issues, are valuable skills for any college graduate
Vivian B. Martin
Professor and Chair
martinv@ccsu.edu