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Journalism

Overview Degrees/Certificates Courses Faculty

Associate Degrees for Transfer

A.A.-T. in Journalism and Mass Communications

The Associate in Arts in Journalism for Transfer provides students with a major that fulfills the general requirements of the California State University for transfer. Students with this degree will receive priority admission with junior status to the California State University system.

The Associate in Arts in Journalism for Transfer (A.A.-T.) may be obtained by the completion of 60 transferable, semester units with a minimum of a 2.0 GPA, including (a) the major or area of emphasis described in the Required Program outlined below (earning a "C" or "P" or better in these courses), and (b) either the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or the California State University General Education Breadth Requirements.

Students interested in transferring to a CSU campus to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Journalism should meet with a counselor to confirm the courses required for lower division preparation in the major.

Catalog Date: January 1, 2025

Degree Requirements

Course Code Course Title Units
JOUR 300 Newswriting and Reporting 3
JOUR 310 Mass Media and Society 3
JOUR 410 College Media Production I 3
A minimum of 3 units from the following: 3
JOUR 301 Advanced Newswriting and Reporting (3)
JOUR 351 Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques (3)
JOUR 360 Photojournalism (3)
JOUR 361 Multimedia Journalism (3)
JOUR 411 College Media Production II (3)
A minimum of 6 units from the following: 6
ARTPH 300 Basic Film and Darkroom Photography (3)
COMM 311 Argumentation and Debate (3)
COMM 361 The Communication Experience (3)
ECON 302 Principles of Macroeconomics (3)
   or ECON 304 Principles of Microeconomics (3)
ENGWR 302 Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking (3)
   or ENGWR 482 Honors Advanced Composition and Critical Thinking (3)
JOUR 320 Race and Gender in the Media (3)
JOUR 350 Writing for Broadcasting/Podcasting (3)
POLS 301 Introduction to Government: United States (3)
   or POLS 481 Introduction to Government: United States - Honors (3)
PSYC 330 Introductory Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (3)
STAT 300 Introduction to Probability and Statistics (4)
   or STAT 305 Statway, Part II (6)
Total Units: 18

The Associate in Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications for Transfer (AA-T) degree may be obtained by completion of 60 transferable, semester units with a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.0, including (a) a minimum grade of "C" (or "P") for each course in the major or area of emphasis described in the Required Program, and (b) either the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or the California State University General Education-Breadth Requirements.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, the student will be able to:

  • analyze content of newspapers, magazines, and online media.
  • demonstrate an understanding of basic news, feature writing, and reporting in print and on-line media.
  • critique his or her own journalistic work and the work of others.
  • apply knowledge of grammar and AP style to create mass media products that conform to journalistic conventions.
  • produce news and feature articles and/or news and feature photographs for publication in a newspaper or on-line publication.
  • apply principles of audience and journalistic ethics to writing and photography, especially as the student's journalistic work relates to gender, ethnicities, and culture.
  • demonstrate understanding of the fundamentals of mass media theories, concepts, and practices as they relate to gender, ethnicity, and cultural constructs.

Career Information

The Journalism AA-T degree prepares students for careers in print, broadcast, and online news media.

Associate Degrees

A.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication

This program offers comprehensive training for careers in journalism and communications. Students learn how to create journalistic content for a variety of media platforms, including print, broadcast and online. The program covers news writing and reporting, public relations writing and techniques, photojournalism, and multimedia journalism. It also offers instruction in design and production for both print and online media products.

Catalog Date: January 1, 2025

Degree Requirements

Course Code Course Title Units
JOUR 300 Newswriting and Reporting 3
JOUR 310 Mass Media and Society 3
JOUR 320 Race and Gender in the Media 3
JOUR 351 Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques 3
JOUR 361 Multimedia Journalism 3
JOUR 404 Editing and Production 3
JOUR 410 College Media Production I 3
JOUR 411 College Media Production II 3
JOUR 412 College Media Production III 3
A minimum of 2 units from the following: 2
JOUR 420 College Media Production Lab I (0.5 - 3)
JOUR 421 College Media Production Lab II (0.5 - 3)
Total Units: 29

The Journalism and Mass Communication Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree may be obtained by completion of the required program, plus the local ARC General Education Requirement, plus sufficient electives to meet a 60-unit total. See ARC graduation requirements.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, the student will be able to:

  • write and edit news, features, editorials, and press releases that adhere to professional journalistic standards for a variety of outlets.
  • conduct research and evaluate information using appropriate methods.
  • analyze and evaluate media materials for credibility, fairness, accuracy, appropriate style and grammatical correctness.
  • apply journalism ethics and law appropriate to professional practice.
  • complete journalistic assignments on deadline.
  • create multimedia to accompany text news and feature stories in a variety of formats.
  • design, develop and lay out pages for different types of publications using a variety of software programs and applying visual design principles.
  • identify and explain the processes, elements, history, theory, and effects of journalism and modern mass media in society.

Career Information

This program is designed to train students for entry-level positions as reporters, writers, editors, producers, photographers, designers, copy editors, and fact checkers for newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, websites and other media platforms. It also trains them for entry-level communications/public relations positions that include writing, editing, photography, and/or page layout and design duties. Some career options may require more than two years of college study. This program prepares journalism/mass communications students who plan to transfer to four-year institutions.

Check Out Degree Planner

If you're interested in a transfer degree (AA-T or AS-T), then check out Degree Planner, a tool that helps you complete your degree efficiently by mapping out what courses to take and when to take them.

Degree Planner

The American River Current

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The Current is a student-run newspaper produced by the students of Journalism 410, 411, 412 and 413 at American River College in Sacramento, California.

The American River Current