School of Journalism and Mass Communication

“Unlike some programs that focus on theory and philosophy, the San Jose State University program focuses on the real world of journalism.”

Lora Finnegan
Magazine Writer

Undergraduate curriculum: Magazine Journalism

Our Magazine program is one of the most active and innovative of its kind in the West. Many of the guest speakers in the magazine sequence are alums who developed their talents on magazine, published regularly for more than 20 years. Annually, Access wins numerous awards, often taking first place in state and regional competitions. More recently, Shift magazine has joined the fold, working to focus attention on issues facing local communities.

Student articles have appeared in the San Jose Mercury News, the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Metro, Sunset, and dozens of other publications. Graduates are working as editors at national, regional and local consumer magazines and computer magazines, technical writers at major corporations, art directors, public relations specialists and both staff and freelance magazine writers.

In order to insure that each magazine journalism student's education is current, the program also has an advisory board of Bay Area professionals who review the courses, offer their suggestions, provide financial aide, and help students get internships and jobs.

There have been classes in magazine writing at San Jose State since 1930,taught within the English Department. In 1947, the Journalism Department offered laboratory classes in magazine writing, and in 1958 Magazine Article Writing became a staple within the department. In 1965, the program became a magazine journalism major, with Magazine Article Writing, Magazine Production and Magazine Staff courses. The first magazine produced within the department was El Toro in 1935, followed by Lycurgus (1946), Lyke (1948), and Sparta Life (1965). In 1970, because of budgetary cutbacks, the magazine major was canceled.

In the Fall of 1986, the program was brought back as the Magazine/Media Writing Production sequence, and is currently the Magazine Journalism Sequence. The 50 magazine majors, take 40 units within the department, including Beginning Magazine Writing, Magazine and Online Article Writing, Spartan Daily Staff Writing, an internship, and Magazine Editing & Production. In that class, students produce the award-winning university magazine Access once each semester.

Reputation

The magazine concentration is well-known in the Bay Area, as professionals receive Access magazine twice a year, come to our classes as guest speakers, and participate in Magazine Day. Classroom speakers have come from Invent, Sunset, Metro, San Jose magazine, the Business Journal, Thunder Press, Sierra, California CEO, Oracle?s Profit magazine, and National Motorist print publications as well as from online media outlets. In turn, Bay Area professionals come to us when they need interns and graduates for full-time positions.