When you apply to college, it is only natural that you pick a major you find suitable for your desired career. If you aim to become a journalist, majoring in journalism might be your best bet; not only do you learn the basics of news literacy and different forms of reporting, but you also gain access to various professional opportunities and networks that could directly open career doors.

Still, some students find that their aspirations eventually deviate from their original choice. As a result, they end up changing their current major to one that may appeal more to a hiring manager in their desired field.

However, important as it is, your major is not the sole determinant of your career. Even if you’re seeking a career that doesn’t directly connect to your major, you can tailor it in a way that prepares you for the career that you want to follow. Sticking with the example of the journalism major, we see how one may complement their chosen field of study with through other means.

Course offerings can be very flexible

While the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s undergraduate journalism program does not include a minor, the online University+ program offers an online journalism certificate. Open to all majors, the certificate comprises “courses in general and specialized newswriting, public relations, media law, sports journalism, ethics, and more,” which are taught by faculty members with experience in the field of journalism.

The certificate should ideally accompany a major that is at least somewhat connected to journalism. However, majors in more distant fields, such as natural sciences and mathematics, are not at a complete loss. Should they decide to take the journalism certificate, they can combine the skills they have learned from their major with those they have learned from the certificate. Further, they could take courses within their major that can connect to journalism. Courses that revolve around statistics or research could impart skills that could ultimately be used in fields such as environmental journalism and data analysis.

Majors including political science, communications or English can also teach valuable journalistic skills. This is especially beneficial if you realize your career aspirations relatively late into your degree, when changing or adding a major might not be possible. For instance, the English department’s Writing, Rhetoric and Literacy Studies specialization (WRLS) allows students “to develop a stronger theoretical and practical understanding of […] the writing that people do in school, in communities and workplaces, as political expression, and online,” and is targeted at students interested in various fields related to writing, from web design and editing to media studies. An English major hoping to work in journalism could learn several key journalistic skills by taking the WRLS specialization.

Student newspapers are another way to learn. The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is our University’s student-run newspaper, which offers students direct experience in writing, editing and producing various forms of news. Writing for papers like the Collegian teaches the principles of journalism through practical experience rather than theory. In addition, one can write on any topic that might interest them—including topics relating to their major—as long as they can find a way to pitch it to an audience.

I am not a journalism major, but I found a passion for journalism when I joined the Collegian during my first year. With the support of head and assistant section editors, I have learned to market my articles towards the student audience by considering topics that matter to them. I have learned to take into account the sensitivities that readers and interviewees may have about topics and practice consideration when I write articles. Further, I now have the opportunity to expand my knowledge of reporting and commentary journalism in my role as an Assistant Arts Editor.

Although I’m stil refining these journalistic skills, I believe that they have enhanced my sense of inquiry and news literacy. Additionally, I’ve used my English major — which encourages critical analysis of texts through modern lenses — in carrying out my journalistic work.

Many successful journalists have degrees in fields other than journalism

According to the 2022 American Journalist Study, a survey conducted to examine data relating to journalists in the United States, 45.1 percent of journalists who had graduated from college had majored in journalism; a further 15.5 percent studied “radio-TV, telecommunication, mass communication, or communication…” Thus, as of 2022, nearly 40 percent of journalists had earned a degree that was neither in journalism nor in a directly related field. While this statistic demonstrates the effectiveness of journalism degrees, it also demonstrates that it is possible to go into the field of journalism without one.

One journalist outside of the United States with a non-journalism degree is Martine Croxall, an English broadcaster who has worked with the BBC for three decades. She studied Geography at the University of Leeds, and has acknowledged that her degree has shaped her approach to her journalism, allowing her to view the news from a physical and geographical perspective rather than from an entirely political perspective. Croxall herself gained practical journalistic experience by working with her local newspaper but has also applied a slightly unusual degree to her broadcasting career.

In rare cases, journalists have established successful careers for themselves by directly joining the workforce rather than going to college. Peter Jennings, presenter of ABC’s “World News Tonight” program in the late 20th century, did not even finish high school. Instead, he dropped out and trained as a radio correspondent, eventually becoming the United States’ youngest news presenter in history. As a foreign correspondent, he reported on many political affairs over the years, such as the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall and the African-American civil rights movement of the 1960s. While Jennings’ lack of a degree establishes him as an anomaly among journalists (he did receive honorary degrees subsequently), his decades-long media career establishes the importance of practical experience as a journalistic credential.

While journalism degrees are ultimately beneficial for aspiring journalists, they are not one’s only gateway into a journalism career. The countless undergraduate programs offered at universities can be tailored to allow journalistic training; and even more crucially, practical experience can be gained through actively working with one’s college newspaper.

Kalana Amarasekara can be reached at [email protected].