Bachelor of Arts Program
Program Code: BA-AS
Major Code: JBS

Communication Department
Buckham Hall B120
(716) 878-3606
communication.buffalostate.edu/

Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (Accredited)

This major allows students interested in news, sports, and entertainment the flexibility to tailor a journalism program toward the presentation of factual information in writing, video, or audio formats for print, broadcast, online and social media. It meets the needs of students preparing for a career in which research and interviewing abilities, accurate and objective reporting, legal and ethical insight, and competence in editing are central to professional practice. Compare this major with communication studies, media production, and public relations and advertising.

Buffalo State was the first SUNY school to become affiliated with the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. and has the largest program in the system. Only a handful of undergraduate programs in New York State are accredited.

Career Opportunities

Students prepare for careers as reporters, anchors, commentators, and news directors for radio, television, and internet-based media, and as reporters, editors, and columnists on newspapers, magazines, blogs, and other digital media.

The profile of a successful journalism graduate is a person with a strong writing proficiency and a compelling use of language, good speaking and listening skills, keen ethical insight and legal awareness, and competence in presentation of information in a particular format (written, visual, and/or digital).

Academic Standards

Only grades of C or higher may be applied toward requirements for any communication degree; courses with lower grades must be repeated. Consistent with standards of the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications, the number of communication courses that students may take is capped, encouraging a broad-based liberal arts education. The department encourages students to take minors or second majors.

Admission Requirements

Incoming freshmen and transfer students can declare the major.

See the Communication department​ for application forms and additional information, including a list of equivalent core courses at community colleges. Transfer students from two-year schools may apply only core courses toward this major for a maximum of 12 credits. Students generally require four semesters of study after completing communication core courses.

Program Requirements

Students will:

1. understand and apply First Amendment principles and the law appropriate to professional practice relevant to the major
2. demonstrate an understanding of the history and role of professionals and institutions in shaping communication relevant to the major
3. demonstrate an understanding of gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, and, as appropriate, other forms of diversity, equity, and inclusion in domestic and global societies and their significance in the major
4. understand concepts and apply theories in the use and presentation of images and information relevant to the major
5. demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity
6. think critically, creatively and independently
7. conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the communication professions in which they work
8. write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communication professions, audiences and purposes they serve
9. critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy, fairness, clarity, creativity, effective storytelling and/or professional style as appropriate to the major
10. apply basic numerical and statistical concepts appropriate to the major
11. apply tools and technologies appropriate to the major
12. demonstrate competence in professional speaking and presentational skills appropriate to the major