"It's more important to click with people than to click the shutter."
Alfred Eisenstaedt
Gardner-Webb is one of the few small universities offering a sequence in photojournalism in the country. Our philosophy is to give students individual attention while exposing them to as much variety of visual news reporting as possible. The department is actively involved in teaching convergence, to allow graduates the opportunity to have a maximum number of skill sets for the changing world of media. GWU's small class size allows students to participate in discussions while recieving feedback from faculty members. Faculty members are also able to monitor a student's progress through the sequence and offer both encouragement and suggestions on how to grow photographically.
Students are required to learn not only photographic skills, but also learn how to report and research subjects. Additionally, students are required to participate in at least one internship at a publication.
Students also learn photojournalism skills by being involved with The Pilot, the student newspaper. This experience allows students to sharpen their photographic skills and garner photos that can be used in their portfolio. To enhance this aspect, GWU will supply advanced photojournalism students with a complete digital camera kit to cover campus news and sporting events. The kit includes a digital SLR body, two lenses, a flash and memory cards. To complete the ability to cover events, there are several long pool lens available.
Objectives of the Photojournalism sequence
Our students will,
• demonstrate an understanding of the importance of a free press and the role photojournalism plays.
• demonstrate a full range of writing, news photography and photo editing processes and apply those skills in both print and non-print media.
• demonstrate practical skills in visual reporting by covering news events, sporting events and personal photo projects
Course Requirements
Students majoring in Journalism and selecting the photojournalism sequence must complete fifteen semester hours comprised of:
| ENGL 203 | Newswriting | 3 |
| COMM 220 | Digital Media Convergence | 3 |
| COMM 320 | Media Operation and Management | 3 |
| COMM 380 | Communication Theory | 3 |
| COMM 480 | Legal and Ethical Issues in Mass Media | 3 |
| Plus | ||
| COMM 255 | Photography | 3 |
| COMM 256 | Intermediate Photography | 3 |
| JOUR 355 | Photojournalism | 3 |
| JOUR 375 | Graphic Design and Publication | 3 |
| JOUR 459 | Portfolio | 3 |
| JOUR 491 | Internship | 3 |
| The PJ sequence is completed with a minimum of 3 hours selected from the following courses. | ||
| JOUR 450 | Documentary Photography | 3 |
| COMM 370 | Introduction to Computer Graphics | 3 |
| COMM 451 | Imaging Technologies | 3 |
| COMM 472 | World-Wide Web Publishing | 3 |
Computer Recommendation
We recommend students interested in majoring in Photojournalism use the Mac platform for their computing needs. Professional photographers rely on Macs. Questions about switching to a Mac? Find out why to switch.
Professor Bob Carey (L) and Scott Holstein at the Carolina Panthers-New England Patriots game August 28, 2004 in bank of America Stadium. Carey who still actively shoots sports for UPI, takes a student to the Panther games to allow them the experience of shooting a professional sporting event. Holstein graduated in May 2005 and is working with National Geographic photographer Joe McNally at his studio outside of NYC.