Get published at USC: The Trojan Writer’s Guide to Student-run Publications

By: Ngai Yeung ’23

@specmagusc

Being a massive school, USC has plenty of opportunities for students hoping to publish their writing. Some publications double as clubs where members are staff writers, but most take pitches and submissions from non-members too. They also tend to have positions beyond writing such as photographer or designer. Here’s 25 student publications to get you started:

News and Current Events

The most famous student-run publication at USC would be the Daily Trojan (c. 1912!). Applications for staff writer positions open at the beginning of every semester for breaking news, arts and entertainment, sports, op-ed and more. 

If a traditional daily print newspaper isn’t your thing, volunteer at Annenberg Media (open to all majors!). You’ll get to work at the fancy, bustling newsroom in the Annenberg building where you can go beyond covering school news and write for teams such as health and wellness, politics, climate and even esports. Verticals such as Black. and ElevAsian further amplifies diverse stories. 

Grew bored of writing? Both newsrooms have other positions such as social media, TV, radio, or even coding news interactives.

For more foreign affairs oriented folks, Glimpse From The Globe is an Economist-esque publication and club that analyzes current events around the world. In a similar vein, students can apply to be a fellow at the USC Dornsife Global Policy Institute and write for their blog, or submit a global affairs pitch. The US-China Today does semester-long deep dives into US China culture, politics, and social issues. Club members get to eat amazing Chinese food in East LA among the many cool social outings. 

Academic

Being such a huge research university, USC has a smattering of academic journals open to undergrad writers. But don’t be intimidated — they are meant to be accessible places for students to try out what it’s like to write for one with varying degrees of formality. There’s the USC Economics Review, which doesn’t showcase equation-laden research papers but informed economic takes on everyday issues, such as why do food deserts exist. 

History enthusiasts can write for The Scroll. International relations academics, check out the Southern California International Review. Aspiring lawyers can write for the USC Journal of Law and Society or the Trojan Review. Even the School of Cinematic Arts has an undergraduate journal, USC Spotlight. And lastly, there’s the brand new Student Journal of Asian Studies launched this spring. Most of these publish biannually, giving students the whole semester to research and write. 

Magazines

If you thought that was a lot already, there’s even more when it comes to magazines. SCene Magazine is all about campus culture, student profiles and their experiences. SPEC Magazine and Haute Magazine both focus on fashion, lifestyle, art and culture at USC. Mash Magazine focuses on the intersection between business and fashion. Roski Mag showcases student art and design work. Ampersand is based out of Annenberg, for arts journalists to write about LA music, culture and film. Descent Magazine highlights APIDA creators at the school.  

On the literary side, Trojan Bloom is USC's only multilingual journal, accepting prose, poetry, and miscellaneous submissions in 15 languages. Air/Light is the English Department's online literary journal, and Palaver Arts Magazine features a mix of fiction, poetry, illustration, photography, and other mediums.

Being more artistic rather than editorial, most of these magazines have design and photography positions too. 

The rest of ‘em

The Sack of Troy brands itself as the second best parody news publication — after the Daily Trojan. Think The Onion, but local and less funny (they’d agree). Did you know we have a school yearbook too? Join the staff of El Rodeo to write for them. And finally, we have Trojans360, the best of them all. Applications to join our merry band opens at the beginning of every semester if you’d like to write for us! 

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Trojans 360 is USC’s official student-run blog. Content created by students, for students.