Grand Rapids Community College students first published a student newspaper in the 1920s. In the last twenty years, The GRCC student newspaper, The Collegiate, has won numerous awards, including 10 First Place, general excellence awards from the Michigan Community College Press Association; four First Place, general excellence awards from the Michigan Press Association; five national “Pacemaker” finalist awards from the Associated Collegiate Press; two first place, best of show “Golden Apple” national awards from the College Media Advisers; and one national “Pacemaker” finalist award for its web site, theCollegiatelive.  TheCollegiatelive provides the content found in the print edition of the newspaper, in addition to multi-media features, a user poll, blogs, online games and a free archive. During its first full year, TheCollegiateLive was voted Michigan's best community college student newspaper web site for 2008 by the Michigan Community College Press Association.
The Collegiate is created by students for students.

To find out about advertising in the Collegiate, click here.

Why take journalism at GRCC? Why not wait until I attend a university?

Because by then it’s too late.

Are you interested in writing, print/web publishing, broadcasting, communications, or public relations as a career? How can you increase your chances of finding a job after graduating? Answer: While in college get your work published as often as possible, and create a portfolio of published work to show prospective employers. At GRCC the place to regularly publish your work is the student newspaper, or on the newspaper's web site (www.thecollegiatelive.com).

Yes, journalism is changing, but if you're interested in it as a career those changes only mean you need to know more, not less. You need to learn journalism's basics of reporting, writing, and editing. You need to know print; you need to know website production using photography, audio, and video. And, most important, you must get your work regularly published.

Former GRCC journalism students go on to excellent jobs at newspapers and stations around the country, including The Grand Rapids Press, The Detroit News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Yahoo Sports. One even won a Pulitzer Prize. Recently, a former Collegiate editor got a full-time reporter job at a major newspaper in Michigan with only her Collegiate clips and a B.A. degree (not in journalism).

In this profession, having a portfolio of published work is essential to show interviewers and employers. Are you thinking of transferring to a university and working on their newspaper or web site? You'll need a portfolio of published work to do that. Are you thinking of finding an internship at a publication, web site, or station? You'll need a portfolio of published work to do that.

Below are the course offerings in the Journalism (JR) department at GRCC. For more information, contact Dr. Scott McNabb at smcnabb@grcc.edu.

Journalism Courses Offered for 2008-09 school year:

JR 251: Introduction to Journalism (3 credits)
Reporting, interviewing, writing in the journalistic style, page design, editing, and multi-media reporting for websites (photo, audio, video). Requires work on the student newspaper or web site in the student newspaper office on campus. Offered fall only, Tuesday & Thursday, 11:30 — 1:00. No prerequisites, no previous journalism experience required.

JR 252: Advanced Journalism (3 credits)
Advanced Journalism. Continues the work of JR 251. Requires work on the student newspaper or web site in the student newspaper office on campus. Offered winter only, Tuesday & Thursday, 11:30 — 1:00. Prerequisite: JR 251, or permission of the instructor.

JR 253: Journalism Internship (2 credits)
Grants credit to students who are working at radio, TV stations, or newspapers.

JR 254: Mass Media (3 credits)
A course examining the influences of print, electronic, and motion picture media, and their role in a democratic society. Lecture course. No prerequisites.

JR 255: Newspaper Production (2 credits)
An independent study (not a regular course) for students who wish to work on the student newspaper or web site. Work options include: graphic design, page design, illustrating, cartooning, photography, or web/internet projects. Students work a number of hours per week on the student newspaper or web site, according to their own schedules and availability. Previous experience not required. Instructor's permission to enroll is required. (2 credits) Please note: if you're interested in journalism as a career, you should start with JR 251 and JR 252, then take JR 255.

JR 256: Broadcast Communication (3 credits)
Radio and TV broadcast history, production, technology, ethics, and writing for radio and TV.  Note:  this is primarily a lecture, not a studio-based, course although some hands-on experiences are offered.

JR 257: Reporting. (3 credits)
Beats, backgrounding, interviewing, using public documents, computer assisted reporting techniques, and ethics.  Students should not enroll in this course before taking JR 251 or JR 252.

JR 266: Fundamentals of Public Relations (3 credits)
Fundamentals of Public Relations. An examination of the role of public relations in society, business, and government

What do people do on the Collegiate?

In addition to writing, the Collegiate uses photographers, graphics and design artists, web-savvy people, a business manager, a copy editor and section editors, who are responsible for laying out and designing pages. The editor-in-chief helps run the show.

Do I need experience or something? Because I don't have any.

No previous experience is needed to work in any capacity on the Collegiate. This job teaches you as you go. Applications to work on the paper in a leadership position are handed out during the first week of class. For more information, e-mail the adviser to the paper, Dr. Scott McNabb at smcnabb@grcc.edu.

And even if you don't become an editor, being a staff writer is an amazingly difficult and rewarding job in its own right and provides you with the experience and portfolio that you desire.

This sounds time consuming. Can I really fit it into my schedule?

Usually, yes, you can. It is a lot more work than most classes (there are times it may feel like a 6 credit class), but JR251/JR252 will be the most rewarding, beneficial classes you can take, not just for yourself, but for your career as well.

JOURNALISM CODE OF ETHICS

Seek Truth and Report it as Fully as Possible

• Inform yourself continuously so you in turn can inform, engage, and educate the public in a clear and compelling way on significant issues.
• Be honest, fair, and courageous in gathering, reporting, and interpreting accurate information.
• Give voice to the voiceless.
• Hold the powerful accountable.

Act Independently

• Guard vigorously the essential stewardship role a free press plays in an open society.
• Seek out and disseminate competing perspectives without being unduly influenced by those who would use their power or position counter to the public interest.
• Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise your integrity or damage your credibility.
• Recognize that good ethical decisions require individual responsibility enriched by collaborative efforts.

Minimize Harm

• Be compassionate for those affected by your actions.
• Treat sources, subjects, and colleagues as human beings deserving of respect, not merely as means to your journalistic ends.
• Recognize that gathering and reporting information may cause harm or discomfort, but balance those negatives by choosing alternatives that maximize your goal of truthtelling.

Speak Out! Have something to say? Sound off to The Collegiate at grcc_collegiate@yahoo.com for your tips or views on the current news, sports, arts & entertainment and opinion.

Letters to the editors: The Collegiate is very interested in your opinions, so send your letters in. The basic premise of journalism centers on the long-standing tradition of providing an open forum and a free press. Please write to the Collegiate with your opinion. You can drop off your letters in room 339 Main building, or you can e-mail them to GRCC_Collegiate@yahoo.com. Please include your name and phone number for proper verification.

Letters are subject to editing for spelling, grammar, and length.