Thursday, January 21, 2010

JMC 2033 Overview

The Journalism & Mass Communication class entitled Writing for the Mass Media prepares students for professional communication that can be applied to any media field that the student desires to pursue. This class helps students to improve their writing skills. Students become more effective communicators not only through informative lecture but also through a hands on lab with interactive exercises guided by well trained instructors.

Writing for the Mass Media concentrates on words and how the student can use them to achieve his or her communication goals in a professional atmosphere or on a day to day basis. No matter which media field a student is interested in, they must be capable of effective information gathering and message delivery. The messages need to be personalized to fit the needs of the audience receiving the message, whether writing a blog, magazine article, newspaper article, or designing an ad for an ad campaign. With such diverse audiences throughout the media students must be able to structure their messages to reach their target audience effectively.

Media professions are driven by language and the creative use of it. In order to effectively use this, media practitioners must be critical readers and thinkers as well as be knowledgeable in the way the mass media has been shaped throughout history. Media is constantly evolving and students must have the correct context in which to use words to effectively communicate. Our country is a place where students must have strong language skills and an understanding of diverse audiences and a sense of ethical principles and behaviors in order to succeed.