Journalism Program at SUNY Plattsburgh

Journalism & Public Relations Program at SUNY Plattsburgh

The journalism and public relations professions have worked hand in hand for more than 100 years. The Department of Journalism and Public Relations combines both areas of study. The journalism and public relations programs emphasize practical experience, a key to rewarding careers in a rapidly changing media environment.

• Learn more about our public relations program.

Our journalism program is different.

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.

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 print and online newspaper, which has thrice been selected as New York's best all-around college newspaper; 13 times been named an All American; for 2006-2007 was named a Pacemaker Finalist, placing it in the top 55 college newspapers in North America; and was inducted into the Associated Collegiate Press Hall of Fame in 2010, making it only the 59th college newspaper in the United States and Canada to be inducted.
• 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 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 National Geographic, Allure, Latina, New York Post, WWE, Aljazeera, Lancôme, Coach, The Star Ledger, Syracuse Heald-Journal, CNN International, 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 Outdoor Writing or 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 Editor and Senior Editor Luke Cyphers.

Faculty with real-world experience

To write stories, our teachers have traveled to New Hampshire to cover the presidential primary, to the World Cup in South Africa and to Beijing to cover the Olympics for ESPN. They have also written books and mobile device applications about travel in Montréal, Québec City, Boston and the Adirondacks. 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, editorial consultants, web designers and multimedia journalists.

Programs of Study

• Magazine Journalism Major.
• Newspaper Journalism Major.
• Multimedia Journalism Major.
• Public Relations 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

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
Email: shawn.murphy@plattsburgh.edu