The Department of Mass Communications is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC). Out of thousands of programs internationally that teach subjects in mass communications, only about 100 meet the high standards of ACEJMC accreditation. Our curriculum seeks to educate students to be responsive to this fast-paced, ever changing professional environment. SIUE offers the following three professional tracks for Mass Communications students:
Journalism
Students earning degrees in our Journalism Professional Option find career as reporters, editors, sports writers or photojournalists on weekly or daily newspapers and broadcasting stations. They also may land their first jobs with news wire services, organizational and professional newsletters, national, regional and local magazines, trade periodicals and print and broadcast online news sites.
Among the many jobs held by our department's print journalism graduates are positions on newspapers such as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, the Alton Telegraph, the Edwardsville Intelligencer, the Kansas City Star, the Belleville News-Democrat, the Fort Lauderdale News-Sun-Sentinel, and the Oakland Press (Calif). Among positions held by SIUE's electronic journalism graduates are Vice President for Hard News and Special Projects at CBS, an ESPN baseball announcer, a sports producer at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, a general manager at WKBD-TV in San Francisco. SIUE grads literally and figuratively cover the entire St. Louis market and some have won multiple Emmys.
Advertising & Strategic Media
Our graduates work for ad agencies, for the marketing departments of major corporations, for the sales departments of media organizations and in many other ancillary jobs in the marketing mix. In ad agencies, our graduates are very successful on the creative side as well as excelling as account executives, media specialists and buyers.
Among the many kinds of jobs held by our graduates are Manager of Marketing Communications for the Anheuser-Busch Companies, sales executive for AT&T in St. Louis, Vice President of Fleischman-Hillard Public Relations in St. Louis, Vice President of Martin Williams Advertising in Minneapolis, President of DM&A Advertising and Marketing in St. Louis, President of Kochan and Company Advertising in St. Louis, General Manager of WQAD-TV in Moline, IL, Vice President of Turec Advertising in St. Louis and Executive Vice President of KETC-TV-9 in St. Louis.
Media Production
Recent graduates report that there are many more jobs "out there" than they imagined when they first enrolled at SIUE. Besides finding employment at television and radio stations, our graduates are writing and producing videos for public relations agencies and P.R. clients, working in industrial and corporate communications, serving the video needs of hospitals, schools, colleges and law offices, designing and producing interactive video and audio for world wide web sites. As well, broadcasting graduates have moved into the business of marketing and marketing audio and video equipment, and yes, many graduates still find jobs in radio, BROADCAST and cable television, news production, sales, traffic, operations, and in other departments. The new kind of broadcasting graduate our department produces is a valuable commodity throughout the MassComm job market.
Our grads include the president of one of the largest St. Louis tv/film production companies, a Hollywood screenwriter/producer, an ESPN baseball announcer, producer-directors, reporters, anchors and news managers at every television station in St. Louis, not to mention our grads in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and elsewhere. There's a director of production at Westwood One Radio Network, head of medical video for a major hospital and a senior digital video animator for a large post production house. Our graduates work in either the production, news, promotion, sales and management departments of every television station in St. Louis.
The Mass Communications Student Handbook
The Student Handbook has been designed to assist our majors with managing their careers here in the SIUE Mass Communications Department. However, the handbook is also a great tool for prospective students to take a look at as well. Below is a list of the information you can find in the handbook:
Mass Communications Courses
MC 201 Mass Media and Society
MC 202 Writing for the Media
MC 204 Introduction to Audio and Video Production
MC 301 Advanced Audio Production
MC 321 Feature Writing
MC 322 Copy Editing for the Media
MC 323 Digital Publishing and Design
MC 324 Advanced News Reporting
MC 325 Fundamentals of Advertising
MC 326 Advertising Copywriting and Design
MC 327 Writing and Designing for Digital Media
MC 330 Advanced Broadcast Writing
MC 332 Advanced News Production
MC 333 Advanced Video Production
MC 334 Commercial Production
MC 342 Digital Imagery
MC 389 Media Planning
MC 401 Media Law
MC 403 Cultural Studies in Media
MC 421 Advertising Campaigns
MC 422 Writing for the Corporate and Institutional Market
MC 433 Television Producing and Directing
MC 440 Visual Media Analysis
MC 441 Multimedia Use in Mass Media
MC 431 Freelance Media Production
MC 449 Media Psychology
MC 453 Transnational Media
MC 454 Documentary Media
MC 447 Photojournalism and Visual Storytelling
MC 451 Research Methods in Mass Media
MC 456 Identity and Emerging Media
MC 471 Special Topics
MC 475 Advanced Multimedia
MC 500 Mass Communications Theory
MC 501 Research Methods for Mass Communications
MC 502 Media Campaigns
MC 503 Cultural Studies in Media
MC 504 Special Topics in Mass Communications
IS 303 The Great Motion Picture
Degree Requirements for Mass Communications Majors
All Mass Communications majors must complete 42 hours in Major (including PHIL 481) and a minimum of 72 semester hours in courses outside the Department of Mass Communications.
Mass Communications Introductory Core Requirements (9 hours):
MC 201 Mass Media and Society
MC 202 Writing for the Media
MC 204 Introduction to Audio and Video Production
Advanced Core (9 hours):
MC 401 Media Law
MC 403 Cultural Studies in Media and
MC 481 Media Ethics.
In addition to the core requirements, choose one of the following specialization tracks (each including specific core and elective courses):
ADVERTISING AND STRATEGIC MEDIA
Prerequisite and Core courses:
MC 327 Writing and Designing for Digital Media
MC 455 Media Ethics
MC 451 Research Methods (counts for MC elective or track elective) ACS 329 (ACS minors only)
Mass Communications Elective course
Advertising and Strategic Media courses (15 hours):
MC 325 Fundamentals of Advertising OR MC 402 (3) Media Management
MC 389 Media Planning
MC 422 Writing for the Corporate and Institutional Market
MC Track Elective
MC Track Elective
Choose three MC Track electives from MC 321, 323, 326, 330, 334, 342, 421, 431, 440, 441, 449, 451, 453, (325, 389 if Strategic Media), (402, 422 if Advertising)
MEDIA PRODUCTION
Prerequisite and Core courses:
MC 327 Writing and Designing for Digital Media
MC 455 Media Ethics
MC 451 Research Methods (counts for MC elective or track elective) ACS 329 (ACS minors only)
Mass Communications Elective course
Media Production courses (15 hours):
MC 330 Advanced Broadcast Writing
MC 402 Media Management
MC Media Prod Elective
MC Media Prod Elective
MC Media Prod Elective
Choose three MC Media Production electives from MC 301, 331, 333, 334, 423, 431, 433, 440, 441, 454
MC 301 required for Radio Production internship
MC 333 or 431 required for TV Production internship
MC 332 required for Radio/TV News internship (MC 332 would count as MC elective course under core courses.)
JOURNALISM
Prerequisite and Core courses:
MC 327 Writing and Designing for Digital Media
MC 455 Media Ethics
MC 451 Research Methods (counts for MC elective or track elective) ACS 329 (ACS minors only)
Mass Communications Elective course
Journalism courses (15 hours):
MC 322 Copy Editing For The Media
MC 324 Advanced News Reporting
MC JOUR Elective
MC JOUR Elective
MC JOUR Elective
Choose three MC JOUR electives from MC 321, 323, 330, 332, 341, 342, 424, 447
MC 332 required for TV News Writing internship
Mass Communications Minor Requirements
The Mass Communications minor requires MC 201 and 202 and additional courses selected in consultation with a departmental minor advisor for a total of 21 hours.
Scholarships and Awards
- Bob Hardy Scholarship in Broadcast Journalism
Established in the memory of Bob Hardy to encourage and support worthy student pursuing a degree in Broadcast Journalism (Mass Communications, Television-Radio). - John Rider Graduate Achievement Award
Recognizes a graduate student who demonstrates potential and inclination for significant contribution to the field of Mass Communications, exhibits a thorough understanding of
mass communications theory and research and shares Dr. Rider’s enthusiasm for the study of global mass media systems and education. - The Jack Shaheen Media Image Award
Recognizes an outstanding student who shares Dr. Shaheen’s interest in issues of media representation and bias.
- The John Regnell Media Policy & Law Award
Recognizes an outstanding student who has demonstrated Dr. Regnell's concern and understanding of legal issues of mass media.
- The Barbara Regnell Leadership in Media Award
Recognizes a senior for outstanding leadership and who exhibits qualities and standards held by Prof. Barbara Regnell.
- Judy Landers Creativity in Strategic Media Award
Recognizes an outstanding student who shares Prof. Landers’s creative approach to media advertising.
- Dewayne Staats Award in Sports Journalism
Recognizes a student who exhibits Staats’s passion for sports, and who demonstrates the writing, announcing and analytical skills needed to excel in the field of Sports Journalism.
- Elmer C. Broz Award for Achievement in Journalism
Presented annually to a graduating senior from the Department of Mass Communications, SIUE, for achievement in journalism. This award is given in memory of the late city editor of the Alton Telegraph on behalf of his efforts to groom and
encourage young journalists.
- John Rutherford Ott
Recognizes a student with outstanding GPA.
- Kamil C. Winter Achievement
Recognizes a senior for outstanding achievement and who exhibits qualities and standards held by Professor Winter - a scholarly approach to social responsibility through the use of media.
- Press Club of St. Louis
To encourage academic excellence in the Department of Mass Communications. The award is open to journalism students enrolled in the Department of Mass Communications.
- St. Louis Newspaper Guild
Outstanding student” in journalism; award designed to encourage academic excellence. Open to all journalism students.
- Belleville News Democrat
To recognize achievement in print journalism.
- St. Louis American Outstanding Student in Journalism Award
To recognize outstanding students in the Dept. of Mass Communications who show promise in field of journalism.
Download the Mass Comm Student Handbook
2020 Scholarship Winners
