What I Wish I Knew As A Journalism Major at USC

By: Tamanna Sood ‘24

If you’re a journalism major and you don’t necessarily know what is going on, are feeling super overwhelmed, and are thinking about changing your major, but still like journalism -  don’t worry we have literally all been there. I entered USC as a journalism major during COVID lockdown and had my freshman year online. When I first came to school and started attending classes in person, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I didn’t know what the media center was, let alone that I was going to be working there for four hours every week for the next year of my life.  Everything was scary. My journalism friends and I can all attest to our second year being our “weeder” year. Most of us were at difficult crossroads in deciding whether to continue in the major, so if you feel the same way, don’t worry, I got you! Here are some tips for getting through your second year as a journalism student!

Work smarter not harder! How to make SOURCING easier:

1. Start Early! 

Finding sources for assignments was one of the hardest things I had to do as a second year student! (It’s still hard, but trust me, it gets better!) One of the best tips that I’ve implemented is starting early! Sometimes you don’t even know where to start looking for a source and some professors will have strict guidelines on who you can and can’t talk to, making the process even more difficult. For example, in my 307 class, our beat was about education. My professors for the course wanted at least one “expert” source for each video and text assignment. This entailed having to find either a professor, a community leader,  or school district officials. I struggled the entire semester because I wasn’t looking at the big picture. 

2. Stay Organized

For the next semester, I would advise you to take a critical look at your syllabus in your second or third week and create a spreadsheet for the semester with a tab for each assignment. Under each assignment, detail a few ideas of which type of person you would like to talk to. For example, if your beat is University Park and the larger South Central community and your assignment is a human centered interview, you might want to put down personalities such as a small business owner, an employee at a popular restaurant, or someone on the USC management staff. Writing down these possibilities will narrow who you need to reach out to and will make the process much easier. 

In that same Excel sheet, draft up a message that you can easily modify for reaching out to subsequent sources for different assignments. Sometimes contacting sources can be intimidating, but creating an outline to follow on call or email can make the process much smoother. When it comes time to send these emails or call these potential sources, always reach out to more than two people at a time. This might feel like common sense, but for me, it wasn’t, and I suffered the consequences for it when a source I was banking on decided they didn’t want to participate in an interview anymore. 

3. Keep up that network!

Make sure to keep in touch with your source! Your source is now part of your network and can be relied on for future content that you will make. Make sure that you are showing your appreciation for your source and the time they took to present their story to you. You’ll come to realize that your previous sources will help lead you to your next ones!

Sourcing will never be easy. However, these practices will help you build a system for sourcing!

It’s okay to hate the media center! Do what you like, even when it doesn’t seem “journalistic”

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this year is that the journalism industry is much larger than you think, and therefore, you can virtually do whatever you want as long as you know what it is. While I’m not totally sure where I’d like to work, I do know: I do not want to work in a newsroom. Working in the media center was really hard for me, and I realized it wasn’t because what I was doing was hard, but more that I didn’t click with the environment. Some journalists love the hustle and bustle of the newsroom and some don’t. No one is less of a journalist for choosing not to work in a newsroom.

If you’re in the same boat and the four hour shifts drain you of all the love you had for journalism, don’t worry! Take a deep breath and remember there are a bunch of electives that you haven’t taken yet. The freedom of my third year has completely changed my perspective around journalism and has even opened my eyes to other opportunities in the field. I took two different elective classes this year (PR-340 - Introduction to advertising and JOUR 323 - Journalism and the Audience) and both of them have helped me realize how media doesn’t just start and stop with “broadcast and print.”

I credited this change in perspective to my JOUR 323 class. In this class, I had to develop my own product and run it for an entire semester. It was one of the hardest and most satisfying classes I’ve ever taken and it flipped my idea of journalism on its head. It introduced me to the world of web journalism and the different mediums that one can partake in to share the news. 

One of the biggest tips I would give you is to make sure you are engaging in guest lectures. If you hate your class and are completely checked out, that's completely fine, but if your professor is bringing in another person who works in the field, make sure you are present and engaged. Not only is the person in front of you a possible source, but also a possible mentor. By sending an email or staying after class and asking them a question,  you’ll have a new resource for figuring out your own career path!

Write the stories you care about

This might seem like the same advice every professor, lecturer, or mentor gives you, however, I have a somewhat different twist on it. As a student, more than half of the assignments will be stories that you wouldn’t read or care about. It’s the honest truth. However, there are always ways to challenge yourself and present an angle that hasn’t been done before. 

Holding storytelling as the basis of your writing will help you avoid feeling jaded about your story. Following an essential character or a theme in your writing can help you not only write more unique pieces but can also help you avoid burnout. What you produce and what you create in class can be great additions to your portfolio, so going the extra mile can not only help you feel better about the content you are creating but can also aid you in the future. 

From the thousands of conversations I’ve had with journalists in the field, I’ll let you in on a not so well kept secret: it is so much easier in the real world. In J-School, 100% of the time you are running on someone else’s schedule and on very little sleep. You have low turn around times and are managing sixteen other units. You may not have to study for tests, but you have to schedule interviews and write your heart out for each assignment. Yeah, it sucks that we are stereotyped as an easy major, but you and I know what it’s like recording 4 hours of b-roll, editing three interviews, writing 2,000 word articles, and producing entire podcasts by ourselves. It's hard. It’s so hard. But know that it’s difficult for everyone, and you aren’t alone. By reminding yourself that you are capable and implementing systems of production, you will succeed, not only in J-School, but in the real world. 

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