As I am in the process of registering for classes for the fall semester of my senior year, I find myself wishing that the college offered more journalism classes.

After the fall of 2016, I will be completely done with my journalism degree. I will have completed an internship, all the required classes and most of the available electives. 

I feel that the journalism department at Oswego State has done a great job of teaching me the basics of journalism. I know how to craft a 30-word lede, determine a story’s news values and how to use the AP Stylebook.

As for more advanced skills, I feel the department has failed me.

I’m not saying there are no opportunities at Oswego to delve deeper into journalism. Getting involved with student media organizations and outside internships are great ways to hone journalistic skills, but those should be supplementary to our education, not crutches for the department to fall back on.

I am paying tuition to be taught by a professor. I believe these more advanced skills should be learned in a classroom and then it should be up to a student to go out and practice those skills using other outlets. Internships and student media are excellent ways to get real-world experience, but they shouldn’t be a student’s only means of learning.

I wish the journalism department offered more upper level classes, like magazine or feature writing. The department should also be putting a much bigger focus on multimedia journalism, since mobile and the Web are the present of journalism.

The journalism department does offer JLM 319- Online Journalism. I am taking this class now and I have learned more in this class than any of my other journalism classes. The college should focus on offering more classes like 319, such as requiring a social media class or a video production class. Those classes are offered through the broadcasting department, but just as elective options for journalism majors. They should be required within the journalism department.

Finding a job in the media industry is hard enough as it is. Students should not have to worry that they are unqualified to become professionals in the industry after four years of higher education. The department needs to shift its focus to give students more peace of mind.

Oswego is known for its broadcasting department; let’s make it known for journalism too.