Journalism

Take the first step toward a career as a reporter or editor. Our program, taught by trained journalists with real-world experience, can equip you with marketable skills and industry knowledge needed to produce quality content and reporting.

Students at any Maricopa Community College may need to complete courses at more than one of our colleges.

SCC Program Description

The Scottsdale Community College Journalism and News and Media Production program is the only one of its kind within Maricopa Community Colleges, offering a “fast track” program to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Our program is designed for students who want to be professional journalists, who see the need for a bachelor’s degree, and who want to build a strong portfolio of their work as journalists.

Unlike some of our sister colleges in the Maricopa Community Colleges District, Scottsdale does not offer the Associate of Applied Sciences (AAS) degree or a Certificate of Completion (CCL) in journalism as the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication does not recognize this degree or certification.

Scottsdale Community College offers several Journalism and Mass Communication courses that apply to both the degree and certificate program for Journalism and New Media studies within Maricopa – but degrees and the certificates in this program will ultimately be awarded from either Mesa or Glendale Colleges.

Journalism and Mass Communication courses at SCC transfer to the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communications path. SCC focuses on transfer, giving our journalism students an edge when they reach Cronkite due to their vocational, on-the-job work experience with nevalleynews.org. Northeast Valley News has been credentialed for three of Arizona's five major sports franchises. The Arizona Coyotes, The Arizona Diamondbacks, and The Phoenix Rising. In addition, nevalleynews.org has been a key media aggregation in several investigative stories.

Experiential Learning Opportunities

The program at Scottsdale recognizes and promotes vocational training at its core for the journalism profession. As such, our program (specifically JRN 210-News and Media Production) will equip young journalism students to step into internship positions even before entering ASU’s Walter Cronkite program. JRN 210 (News and Media Production) does this through various avenues of skill set training.

  • All JRN 210 students (nevalleynews.org) are trained in writing online copy for news, sports, entertainment, investigative reporting, and feature work.
  • All JRN 210 students (nevalleynews.org) must take our video filming lab offered in class using their smartphones. They will also be trained on at least two editing software programs for short-form video production to add “value” to their published online copy. This is something that today’s working media must know.
  • All JRN 210 students (nevalleynews.org) must take audio voicing, in-studio production, broadcast writing, and audio editing lab offered in JRN 210. Again, this is required and will add “value” to online copy and train prospective journalists in both online writing and broadcast studio production (podcasts) and short-form audio news and entertainment segments.
  • All JRN 210 students must learn how to post a copy to the site and implement social media promotion through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
  • The spring of 2019 will also introduce Maricopa TV as our newest lab. students will be required to train in television broadcast writing, and they will each “audition” on camera and on set for television studio time.

Internship and Work Study Opportunities

The adviser for the journalism program is a twenty-year radio broadcaster with roots in the local mainstream media. She keeps up with media needs and is responsible for helping students to gain interview opportunities for highly competitive internships.

Recent Internships Awarded to SCC Journalism students

  • Maricopa TV broadcast internships
  • Fox Sports Arizona
  • The Arizona Coyotes
  • Channel 3 News
  • The Arizona Diamondbacks/Publications
  • JRN 210 also has two working paid positions for students who train in audio and video production.

Work Study Opportunity

Nevalleynews.org: Work study position of 20 hours a week for qualifying students that will work in audio, video, and online news production.

Course Format/Textbooks

Classes are offered in various formats: in-person, online, hybrid, day, evening, full-time and part-time.


 

Most of our courses use low-cost textbooks or no-cost material your instructors provide. General education courses may have textbooks that cost more.