Journalism for Social Change

Amid striking polarization, the rise of fake news and the degraded state of the mainstream media, producing trustworthy journalism is more important than ever. Through this class, Journalism for Social Change (J4SC), you will learn the practice of solution based journalism, wherein stories give equal weight to problems and their solutions. The goal of this online course is two-fold: 1) to teach you how to use journalism and media as an implement of social change; and 2) to have you become effective change agents yourselves. Throughout the course, you will view examples of outstanding solution-based journalism. The majority of these stories focus on vulnerable children. The umbrella of children allows us to explore the broad, but deeply interwoven issues affecting all vulnerable peoples. J4SC provide you with a platform to research, report on, and write about the policy and justice issues that fuel your own interests and passions, whether that involves immigration crises, criminal justice, women’s rights, child exploitation, or poverty. Student work will be published throughout the semester and have a direct, immediate impact. Through precise, rigorous reporting and policy analysis, students will substantively contribute to public discourse, and by virtue of that contribution, drive political will toward positive policy solutions to the myriad social issues that vulnerable peoples across this globe face.