The West Valley College Journalism Department offers both theoretical and practical classes to provide students with the skills needed to be successful in both their academic and work lives. Through these courses, students get both hands-on experience and background knowledge to help them develop their reading, writing and critical thinking skills needed to transfer to a four-year college or university, or move directly into the work force. The Journalism courses are designed to prepare students for initial entry into careers in various areas of communication, as well as for transfer to other colleges and universities.

After completing courses in Journalism, a student will be able to:

• Express ideas clearly in writing;
• Conduct journalistic research and interviews;
• Meet deadlines;
• Use technology appropriate to the medium.

Note: Some career options require more than two years of college study

A.S., Engineering

See Transfer Planning Guide available at the Counseling Center.

Common Lower-Division Requirements: Certain math and physical science courses are common to all engineering programs as follows (check with your counselor regarding the specific four-year transfer school of your choice):

See Transfer Planning Guide available at the Counseling Center.

3 units

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 0 hours by arrangement

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

A one-semester lecture course on the role of mass communication in society, with emphasis upon major means of mass communication: newspapers magazines, books, television, and motion pictures. (Offered once each year.)

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Acceptable for credit: *University of California, California State University

 *JOURN 001ABC must be taken in order to receive UC transfer credit

This is the first part of a three-segment course in mass communication in society. Journalism 1A (News Media) focuses on the major mass media - newspaper, magazine, radio, television, books, Internet/multimedia/world wide web and motion pictures - history and organization. Pass/No Pass Option

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Acceptable for credit: *University of California,

California State University *JOURN 001ABC must be taken in order to receive UC transfer credit

This is the second part of a three-segment course in mass communication in society. Section B (Mass Communication Theories and Issues) discusses mass communication/multimedia theory and mass communication/news media/multimedia issues with a special emphasis on First Amendment issues. Pass/No Pass Option

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Acceptable for credit: *University of California, California State University

 *JOURN 001ABC must be taken in order to receive UC transfer credit

This is the third part of a three-segment course in mass communication in society. Section C (Legal Aspects of Communication) discusses communication legal issues, including libel, privacy, obscenity, access to information, and copyright as they apply to mass communications and multimedia. Pass/No Pass Option

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

This is the first part of a three-segment course in beginning news writing principles, where clear, concise and accurate written communication is emphasized. Section A (News Story Organization) focuses on writing for the mass media (including multimedia), with special emphasis on lead paragraph writing and inverted pyramid story organization. Pass/No Pass Option

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

This is the second part of a three-segment course in beginning news writing principles, where clear, concise and accurate written communication is emphasized. Section B (News Gathering) focuses on news and information gathering techniques for newswriting and multimedia projects. Pass/No Pass Option

1 unit

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 1 hour by arrangement (over 6 weeks)

Prerequisite: JOURN 020A and JOURN 020B

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

This is the third part of a three-segment course in beginning news writing principles, where clear, concise and accurate written communication is emphasized. Section C (Newswriting Practice) focuses on putting news gathering and news writing principles together with controlled newswriting and multimedia writing exercises. Pass/No Pass Option

3 units

Lecture 3 hours; lab 0 hours, lab 0 hours by arrangement

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

A leture and laboratory course in newswriting principles. Clear, concise, accurate communication is emphasized. The first semester includes writing and rewriting of basic, typical news stories. The course is designed to satisfy, in part, the basic newswriting requirements for baccalaureate programs in Journalism.

2 units

Lecture 1 hour; lab 2 hours, lab 2 hours by arrangement

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

A one-semester lecture and lab course in newspaper article writing techniques, using the college newspaper, the NORSEMAN, as a pratical laboratory. Stories are assigned, students conduct interviews and gather information for stories, stories are written onto a computer, where they are edited by student editors. During the process, discussions are held as appropriate

2 units

Lecture 1 hour; lab 2 hours, lab 2 hours by arrangement

Recommended preparation: ENGL 905

Acceptable for credit: California State University

A one-semester lecture and lab course in newspaper production techniques, using the college newspaper, the NORSEMAN, as a practical laboratory. Stories prepared by the class are checked for completeness and lack of technical errors. Class members and student editors review possible page designs. Students paginate (lay out) pages on a computer, place stories, artwork, photographs and other graphic images on the page, print out and assemble the page to be sent to a commercial printer. During the process, discussions are held a appropriate on typography, design, computer techniques, and graphic arts tehcniques. The cycle is repeated to the number of issues in the term. Pass/No Pass Option

2 units

Lecture 1 hour; lab 2 hours, lab 2 hours by arrangement

Recommended preparation: PHOTO 001

Acceptable for credit: California State University

A one-semester lecture and lab course in newspaper

photojournalism techniques, using the college newspaper, the NORSEMAN, as a practical laboratory. Photo assignments are made, students shoot the photos and gather information

1 unit

Lecture 1 hour; lab 0 hours, lab 0 hours by arrangement

Co requisite: JOURN 053, JOURN 055, or JOURN 057

Recommended preparation: Be a major editor of the NORSEMAN

Acceptable for credit: California State University

Enrollment in this course is limited to major editors of the school newspaper, the NORSEMAN. The Board interprets established policy and supervises production of the student newspaper. Pass/No Pass Option

.05-3 units

The course will explore topics related to this discipline and will be offered as needed. See the class schedule for current offerings. Pass/No Pass Option