Program Overview

The Journalism Certificate Program trains students to be 21st-century thinkers, writers and media professionals. Journalism today is engulfed in change. Online technology and citizen journalism are altering how journalists gather, report and convey information, and students need to be ready.

Our instructors, many of whom are working journalists, combine lessons on reporting, interviewing and writing skills with discussions on how to use new media to convey information. The program, approved through the SUNY system, begins by teaching the fundamentals of reporting, writing, editing and producing stories for print, online and broadcast journalism. Introductory courses teach students where to go for information, how to conduct interviews and produce accurate and clear pieces on deadline. Advanced courses focus on feature, opinion and online writing, and the possibilities the web and video offer. The program is interdisciplinary and offers courses from the English, Media Study and Communication departments.

Our award-winning instructors serve as mentors and take time beyond class hours to assist students. UB has produced numerous successful journalists including CNN's Wolf Blitzer (1999, 1970), CNN Senior Producer Pam Benson (1976), NPR's Terry Gross (1972), and Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Tom Toles (2002, 1973) and has an active alumni network to help students get jobs. The program is housed in the English department.

The Journalism Certificate Program continues to add courses and to grow every semester.

Alumna Randi Minetor, (UB '80) will be in Clemens 306 at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 to talk to students about "Making a Living as A Writer." Minetor, who pledged to see all 391 (now 398) National Parks in her lifetime, made a career of it by writing books about her adventures. Now, she has written 20 books for The Globe Pequot Press, ranging from national park travel to American history to the best day hikes in upstate New York. She and her husband Nic also have launched a line of National Park Quest Guides for Kindle. She'll be talking about creating a career as a writer and the life of a working writer.

Aaron Mansfield, editor in chief of The Spectrum, won a Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award for sports columns for 2012. Two of the winning columns,

"Just Quinn Baby Quinn" and "Solving the Quinn Conundrum" outline the questionable record of UB Football Coach Jeff Quinn and the other insists it's way too easy to dislike LeBron James. Mansfield is a junior English major and hopes one day to work for ESPN.

The Journalism Program is proud to announce the winners of the 2013 Rosalind Jarrett Journalism Education Award contest. Sara DiNatale, Lisa Khoury, Brian Keschinger and Brian Josephs all traveled to NYC and spent two nights at the Sheraton Times Square while attending College Media Association's March 9-11 convention. The convention featured hundreds of media professionals and thousands of student journalists. The students -- along with eleven other Spectrum students networked and met professionals from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, Wired, Time, ABC, MSNBC, Twitter, Conde Nast, Entertainment Weekly and many, many more.

Congratulations to three current Spectrum editors, Aaron Mansfield, Sara DiNatale and Rebecca Bratek, who received summer internships at The Buffalo News. Bratek, a senior English major, will be attending CUNY Graduate School of Journalism in the fall. Luke Hammill, a former Spectrum managing editor and currently a student at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, is currently interning at the New York Times. Hammill was the only student selected from the Columbia class as a NYT intern.

Congratulations to The Spectrum, whose editors have won six national awards in the past two and a half years.

The Spectrum is always looking for new writers, cartoonists, photographers and videographers. If you are interested in working for New York's second-largest independent newspaper, contact Aaron Mansfield, editor in chief (aaron.mansfield@ubspectrum.com).

Looking for a job in Journalism?

 

    Contact Us

    Journalism Certificate Program
    311 Clemens Hall
    North Campus
    Buffalo, NY 14260-4610

    Phone: 716.645.0669
    Fax: 716.645.5980
    Email: ub-journalism@buffalo.edu

    Program Director:
    Jody Kleinberg Biehl

The Journalism Certificate Program