The right vision, the right people and the right resources all came together at the right time to make The University of South Carolina College of Mass Communications and Information Studies the ideal location and the perfect partner to the IFRANewsplex. IFRA's development of Newsplex brings the university an advanced micro-newsroom as a demonstration, training and research facility.
In 2002, the merger of what are now the School of Journalism and Mass Communications and the School of Library and Information Science created new opportunities to engage with Newsplex. The library school brings data retrieval and research expertise to the merger. The journalism school emphasises professional skills in communication, grounded in a strong liberal arts education.
In its graduate-level programme, the School of Journalism and Mass Communications confers the Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Mass Communication (M.M.C.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Within the Master of Mass Communications program, students may elect an area of study in Newspaper Leadership or Integrated Communications, if they so desire. Coursework is offered in electronic and print journalism, advertising, public relations, integrated communication and a wide range of other subjects dealing with the processes and effects of mass communication.
The College offers undergraduate programs leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communications degree. As undergraduates, students specialise in journalism, broadcast journalism or advertising and public relations.
The electronic journalism segment provides an understanding of the theories and practices of radio and television. Studies in print journalism prepare students for careers primarily at newspapers. Required courses include reporting, copy editing and specialised writing. Both journalism sequences culminate in a senior semester practicum. Senior print journalism majors produce a weekly newspaper, The Carolina Reporter, as part of their practicum. Electronic journalism majors produce daily television and radio news programmes. In the advertising and public relations sequence, students learn how to research, plan, and implement integrated marketing communications campaigns. The School's advertising and public relations teams compete nationally.
USC recognised early on that the future of professional news handling will be technologically intense and across media. The College's professors have combined print and broadcast studies and introduced advanced Web publishing techniques into core reporting courses. By partnering with IFRA to develop Newsplex, the College is accelerating the pace of its leadership in preparing the new generation of journalists needed by the multi-dimensional news industry.
The library school offers the Master of Library and Information Science degree as well as the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Library and Information Science and the Specialist in Library and Information Science degree. It emphasises an understanding of the wide variety of information technologies available today's learning environment. Its partnership with the journalism school is fostering new opportunities to link information storage and retrieval to its dissemination through the mass media. Library school graduates are finding expanding careers in such places as media and law archives.
In addition to its instructional programmes at undergraduate and graduate levels, the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies offers an extensive programme in continuing education and maintains wide-ranging journalism services benefiting both the community and the profession. It is a leader in sponsoring scholastic journalism programmes. Its research programmes are assuming an increasingly important role in scholarly study.
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