Journalism Program at SUNY Plattsburgh

Journalism Program at SUNY Plattsburgh

Do you want to make a difference? Do you want to inform and entertain readers about the world?

If so, then journalism at SUNY Plattsburgh may be the major for you.

Our journalism program is different.

We teach theory and skills, but we balance them with an emphasis on practical experience. To get the story, our students have interviewed presidential hopefuls in the New Hampshire primary, traveled to Quebec to listen to wolves, traveled to Ground Zero on Sept. 11, studied moose in Vermont, and attended national press conferences.

All of our students work for SUNY Plattsburgh's four publications:

• Cardinal Points, our campus newspaper, which has twice been selected as New York's best all-around college newspaper, nine times been named an All American, and for 2006-2007 was named a Pacemaker Finalist, placing it in the top 55 college newspapers in North America;
• All Points North, our online magazine that covers the culture, people, and places of the Adirondack and Lake Champlain regions;
• the print edition of All Points North magazine and the online version of Cardinal Points;
• and Cardinal Yearbook.

You can

• Study in a state-of-the-art computer classroom and digital lab
• Gain practical experience at the student-run print and online newspaper and magazine, and yearbook.
• Learn from distinguished visiting journalists.
• Get personal attention from faculty with real-world experience in our small-size classes.
• Gain valuable internship experience.
• Develop a portfolio of clips to show prospective employers.

Our graduates have gone on to successful careers at media outlets such as People, Harper's Bazaar, MTV, Dateline NBC, The Wall Street Journal, and Hearst Entertainment.

Flexible study options

• Our students can major in newspaper, magazine or multimedia journalism. We have the only magazine and multimedia journalism majors in SUNY.
• If you like the outdoors, you will love our courses in Science and Environmental Writing.
• If you are interested in digital journalism, you can produce multimedia news features, websites, and publications for the community.
• If your goal is to be a sports reporter, take sports reporting with ESPN The Magazine Senior Writer Luke Cyphers.

Faculty with real-world experience

To write stories, our teachers have traveled to the North Slope of Alaska to examine global warming, to New Hampshire to cover the presidential primary, to Hawaii to investigate noise pollution, to Midway Atoll for a travel article, and to Beijing to cover the Olympics for ESPN. Their articles have appeared in national newspapers and magazines, such as The New York Times, SKI, Popular Science, Discover, College Media Review, Audubon, and ESPN The Magazine. They have also served as editors, photographers, writing coaches, journalism award judges, and editorial consultants.

Programs of Study

• Magazine Journalism Major
• Newspaper Journalism Major
• Journalism Minor
• Multimedia Journalism Certificate for post-graduates

Gain experience interning at Cardinal Points

Professor Shawn Murphy on real life experiences at SUNY Plattsburgh

Cardinal Points Receives Perfect All-American Ranking

Cardinal Points, SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent, student-run newspaper, was named an All-American recipient for the fall 2010 semester, receiving for the first time five marks of distinction — a perfect ranking. Read more.

Student Organizes Benefit for Strand Theatre

After one step on stage, English and journalism dual major Jessica Bakeman knew the Strand Theatre was something special. The SUNY Plattsburgh senior looked at the old paint and moldings from 1924 and thought, “What has happened here?” She set out to find the answer as part of her advanced honors project. Read more.

Questions, Comments, Suggestions?

If you would like to learn more about the journalism programs at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact

Shawn Murphy, Chair
Co-Director, Center for Communication and Journalism
Office: Yokum Hall 103-A
Phone: 518-564-2422
Fax: 518-564-2105
E-mail: shawn.murphy@plattsburgh.edu