A: First year students take, in addition to their Core classes, Intro to Journalism and Digital Design I in their spring and fall semesters. These introductory courses teach you how to write a basic news story, how to conduct an interview, and so on. We also introduce key concepts about applying a biblical worldview to journalism.
In their second year, students are staff reporters and editors on the Patrick Henry Herald, the student newspaper, where they learn what it’s like to write on deadline and work with a team. In their third and fourth years they take those skills to their off-campus internships, while studying Media Law and Journalism History and finishing up their other classes.
A: Absolutely. This is clearly a financially challenging time for traditional mainstream media outlets, but with disruption comes opportunity. Instead of the usual career path working up from local and regional to national-level media, young journalists are finding that there are many different kinds of publications, some with very large audiences, looking for sharp, energetic young journalists with integrity who can write well and tell good stories.
What’s more, the industry is changing in ways that favor the kinds of journalists PHC produces. As the old advertising-based business models break down, more and more publications are charging for their content, and they need high-quality journalists who can produce news worth paying for.
And, of course, the journalistic, story-telling, and communication skills you learn at PHC are in demand in many contexts, as you can see below.
