Journalism at Stony Brook University

The state-of-the-art accredited journalism program at Stony Brook University is designed to prepare students for careers in today’s fast-paced, highly competitive media landscape. The streamlined curriculum requires 42 credits of JRN courses and offers an easy-to-navigate pathway to graduation. 

The program is based on digital journalism but holds fast to traditional journalistic values and skills that imbue an understanding of the role of the press in a democratic society and a passion for the public interest. The school’s mission is to nurture the next generation of well-trained, independent-minded journalists with the courage to do the right thing in the face of unprecedented pressure. The curriculum also provides the intellectual underpinnings students need to progress to graduate or professional degree programs. 

It is designed to ensure that students build competencies in a sequential fashion. They will hone skills in journalistic storytelling and production, starting with two required digital journalism courses and a writing course. In turn, these prepare students for one of three upper-level digital journalism courses – specializing in text, audio or video, depending on their interests and ambitions. These courses offer advanced opportunities to mix sound, images and words into compelling multimedia packages. Students will also practice using social media as a reportorial tool and a presentation platform. Majors complete their production training in the senior capstone course, JRN 490, which satisfies the university’s experiential learning requirement. 

The remaining required coursework provides a rich variety of challenging courses that explore news literacy, media law and ethics, mass communication history, the economics of media, global issues in journalism and data-driven storytelling. Students must also take two upper division three-credit journalism electives. 

In addition, an 18-credit interdisciplinary concentration will provide students with an in-depth look at a specific academic area of their choosing. Students have the option of pursuing a minor or double major. 

Through these experiences, journalism majors should develop into ethical, well-educated, well-spoken, resourceful, independent critical thinkers who understand the technical, cultural and intellectual challenges facing modern media.