Undergraduate Business Journalism Background Provides Major Edge in Field

Few undergraduate schools offer a full business journalism program, even though the training is in high demand by employers. Amid the recent scandals involving such names as Tyco International and Adelphia Communications, the ability to write comprehensively and clearly on issues concerning the financial world is a strong advantage.

As I enter my senior year at Washington and Lee University, I am often greeted with a confused stare when I state my major: business journalism. In most cases, people figure it might be a double major. But the business journalism sequence at Washington and Lee, funded by a $1.5 million endowment by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, is a major within the journalism department, requiring additional courses in the Williams School of Commerce.

I personally believe that business journalism gives me an edge because it is a young field that represents a new combination in learning.

Other undergraduate business journalism programs are offered at Baylor University, Baruch College (CUNY), the University of Georgia and the University of North Texas. Each school has a different take as to what framework and requirements structure the major, with Baruch offering electives in advocacy journalism and Baylor separating the media realm into two programs of business journalism and business broadcasting.

One of the common themes is that all of the programs are relatively young. Washington and Lee's business journalism sequence started in 2002 with only one graduate in each of the first two years, though it is catching on. By 2005, there will be five students majoring in it. The business professors at the university are pleased to see students who are able to communicate, as well as run spreadsheets and audit a corporation. The professors in the journalism school are astounded when a student is able to make a story more thorough by including analysis on the latest financial news. This versatility of the major is one of the most promising aspects.

The Washington and Lee program requires the basic journalism core with courses in reporting, government, law and communications, and ethics, concluding with two courses that exclusively merge journalism and business. Before entering these two classes, "Reporting on Business" and " Reporting on the Economy," students must have "Accounting," "Microeconomics" and "Macroeconomics" on their transcripts.

In total, students on the business journalism track must take a minimum of seven courses in the commerce school. Those classes must include credits in applied economics, with options such as "Public Finance" and "Environmental and Natural Resource Economics," as well as classes focused internationally, with options such as "International Trade" and "China's Modern Economy."

Finally, students must secure a journalism internship that promises at least 300 hours of credits. Most students opt to complete the internship in the summer, but it is possible to schedule work with local papers during the school year. The journalism lab over the course of last year was buzzing with news of interviews - and lack of interviews - for internships. We were doing all we could to get the right clips to prospective employers and use the extensive alumni base for networking.

Even though standard concerns, like the dreaded GPA, would not be affected by the internship, I saw this as the most difficult endeavor yet. I, for one, was not successful by the end of winter term. I watched peers consider changing their major to one that did not require the internship credits. I passed up jobs that were considered unacceptable in advocacy journalism or public relations. I turned to pure journalistic organizations. In fact, I left the country to study abroad for the spring semester sweating at the thought that I did not have an internship and I may have to dramatically change my college plans. With that, I needed to work on getting an internship from overseas, more specifically from an internet café in Spain.

In the end I was offered an internship with a small, community weekly paper that promised actual experience rather than copying duty. But it still was not business journalism.

Now, I have two internships in this single summer. While before I could only say with a smirk that the process of the search only made me stronger, I think that I can say that with truth now. My reporting class at Washington and Lee was very realistic. Each student was assigned a beat and we were required to submit articles and budget lines weekly. My business classes were intense with much demand for independent work, free from constant guidance by the professor. But nothing compares with the real deal where you can combine everything that you have learned and apply it to something material.

In the end, my plans following graduation are more than hazy. Whether I end up exclusively in the business journalism field or not, I feel confident that my background in the major and the recent encouragement of the combination of two disciplines will not only benefit me, but others as well.