About WKU Journalism
The Journalism program at Western Kentucky University, located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is a highly accredited degree program for aspiring journalists. Read more to learn about our mission, deparment, and why this website is special to our cause.
Mission Statement
Partnered with the WKU Broadcasting department, our goal is to prepare students for a changing media environment by focusing on content, ethics, and technology.
We promote several themes within our department such as community impact and service, digital media technology with social media integration, and the spirit of innovation. WKU Journalism has been internationally recognized for its diverse faculty members who are dedicated to ensuring students graduate with the tools to be successful in any industry through effective teaching, creative work, and active engagement in scholarship. We utilize hands-on curriculum with a dynamic diversity plan which fosters inclusivity with a domestic and international focus that is assessed annually. As a branch of the School of Media, we also encourage collaboration across art forms. Beyond this, our students leave with strong, effective communication skills that are essential in any professional setting.
WKU Journalism Program
The Journalism major at WKU is a 4-year Bachelor of Arts program designed to prepare students for a professional career at any news media outlet or for any position in professional communications. The core of the curriculum revolves around reporting, writing, and editing for print and the Web.
We also offer a minor in Journalism Writing for those interested in gaining more knowledge and skills within the journalism field.
WKU Journalism Website
This website acts as a digital magazine for the Journalism major at WKU. While many of our students produce work for on campus publications such as The College Heights Herald or The Talisman, we wanted to give our students another opportunity to publish their writing. All work featured on this site is original work produced by students in Journalism classes.
Most stories are available for publication with full credit to the author and WKU Journalism. Please contact Professor Mac McKerral, WKU Journalism major coordinator, with any questions at mac.mckerral@wku.edu or fill out the form on our contact page.
Testimonials
“The thing I most take away from my time in the actual J school itself was working with Mac [McKerral] on my senior capstone project…and to really be challenged to do a story that would have impact and matter and really go deep with something. That was really excellent preparation for what I would do in the real world in a career.”
Speaking about how this project impacted her career, she said, “My editor at my second job saw that story from college a year earlier and thought ‘this reporter is going to be capable of doing the kind of things that I want’…and that was something that conviced her to hire me.”
“I had no journalism experience…so I accredit 100% of my journalism ability now and what I am as a journalist to my time at Western.” Casey acknowledges the Journalism department professors that helped him hone his skills in writing. He said that even when tough projects are thrown his way in his current positon, he has the confidence to take them on because of the instruction he received in the WKU Journalism department.
“WKU School of Media is like no other.” Tyler’s favorite part of the WKU Journalism program was being able to get hands on experience from exceptional professors.