Start the Presses: Take Journalism

Many students and faculty at Piedmont Virginia Community College are avid readers of The Forum, the school’s student paper. The Forum contains all sorts of stories, discussing classes, campus and local events. But while The Forum helps keep people up-to-date on classes and restaurants, it does not go into much detail about the people who write the articles.

In fact, there is a whole journalism class. In it, students help create The Forum and do various writing exercises. The class welcomes anyone regardless of their writing skills.

“You don’t have to be a good writer to succeed in the course,” said Assistant Professor Tamara Whyte, who teaches the class.

In PVCC’s Journalism classes (ENG 121 and 122), students learn about news writing and reporting, as well as skills for layout and editing.

Students are tasked with writing one article a week. First, the students choose a topic for a story. It could be about an event or club in college, something in the community, or even general history about a place. Once that is done, students go out after class and gather information about their subject through note-taking and interviews. After the students have gathered enough information, they write a draft of the article and submit it to the teacher for editing. When that is finished, the teacher hands back the articles for students to make corrections. Afterwards, another student goes over it and makes recommendations for the author to edit the articles. Next, students set up the layout for their articles, and then the articles are ready to be published in the latest Forum. The Journalism class uses a smooth system to publish its articles.

“Everybody should take it,” says Arif Vega, who has attended nearly two semesters of Journalism classes at PVCC, “I think it should be a required course.”

PVCC’s Journalism classes are a good opportunity to show others your work, and you do not have to pursue a career in journalism to join the class. Journalism helps students improve their writing.

“All students can benefit by being better writers and critical thinkers,” said Whyte, “The skills we cover in Journalism improve clarity, precision, writing, and communication.”

The course is an approved transfer elective and is offered in both Fall and Spring semesters.  Interested students can sign up for ENG 121 this fall, a late-start class starting in September. The second class, ENG 122, is offered in the Spring.