What you’ll do

Journalism school will leave you with a wide range of options after graduation.

Depending on the specialties they choose, many journalism school graduates end up working for news organizations or advertising or public relations firms, sometimes ones they founded themselves. For example, our alums include:

  • Becca Andrews, who graduated from MTSU’s School of Journalism, earned a master’s in journalism from UC-Berkeley, and now writes for Mother Jones.
  • Alum Emily West, who covers Williamson County for The Tennessean.
  • Lauren Davenport, who founded The Symphony Agency, a digital branding and marketing firm, in St. Petersburg, Florida.
  • Justin Threlkeld, who works as a Nashville-based user experience design expert.
  • Alex Hubbard, a reporter and columnist for The Tennessean.
  • Holly Thompson, who co-anchors the morning and noon newscasts at NewsChannel4 in Nashville.
Bridgett
Howard

But others take less traditional paths. Some go to law school. Others earn masters or doctoral degrees in mass communication and become college professors. One of my former students, Bridgett Howard, is a professional angler who makes a living by fishing out of kayaks, blogging about her fishing techniques, and reviewing and promoting fishing equipment.

For one of the broadest-available looks at what journalism school students do after graduation, see the latest Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates conducted by the Cox Center at the University of Georgia’s Grady College.

What you do after journalism school can depend heavily on what you do while you’re in journalism school. In addition to doing well in your classes, it’s essential to get involved in student media, build a portfolio – preferably, an online one – of published work, and get the best internship you can get. MTSU School of Journalism students work in the College of Media and Entertainment’s Center for Innovation in Media, which houses Sidelines, the editorially independent campus student newspaper, and MT10 News, the campus student-run television news outlet. All offer students the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on experience with media.

Next: What you’ll earn