About
Versatile courses
The Media Arts Department offers courses in a variety of disciplines, including Multimedia, Photography, Cinema, Journalism, Public Relations and Broadcasting. Sample classes include Collecting and Writing News, Screenwriting, Magazine Editing, Beginning and Advanced Photography, Multimedia Storytelling, History of Documentary Film and more. Degrees, specialized certificates and transferable classes are options in the Media Arts Department.
Cutting-edge curriculum
Pierce has one of the few community college journalism programs in the state to offer Multimedia Reporting, Podcasting, Online Journalism Production and Video Editing. Students learn core skills while gaining experience with current technology. The department features a state-of-the-art facility, complete with studios and new computers fully loaded with industry-leading software.
Industry leaders
Media Arts graduates have gone on to work for the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, Associated Press, KCET, CBS and many other major media organizations. The Pierce faculty includes highly experienced professors, along with instructors currently working for major media and film organizations.
Practical experience
Students gain practical experience in a variety of disciplines through hands-on training in classes and by working for campus publications. Those in the Media Arts program have earned internships at USA Today, the Daily News, The Desert Sun, CBS, FOX, KCET, Glendale News-Press, KTLA, metromix.com, Back Stage magazine and more. In addition, students will leave the Media Arts program with a polished portfolio.
Publications
The Media Arts Department is home to award-winning publications, including The Roundup newspaper, The Bull magazine, theroundupnews.com, thebullmag.com and KPCRadio.com. Students enrolled in Broadcasting 10, Journalism 202, 217, 227, 218, 219, 220, 223, 238, 239, 248, 249, 255, 258, 259, 268 and Photography 20 and 21 are involved in content production for publications.
History
The Media Arts Dept. offers courses in several disciplines: Multimedia, Broadcasting, Cinema, Journalism, Photography and Public Relations.
These classes have been a presence on campus since Pierce College opened in 1947, but the departmental emphasis has historically been on the weekly newspaper, The Roundup. Several years later, a quarterly magazine, The BULL, was founded. Both publications provided “hands-on” learning for journalism and photography students and were offered as part of the school curriculum.
The “modern” department came into being in the early 1970s when two World War II veterans-turned high school English teachers teamed up with two products from the 1960s, one with a master”s in journalism from Cal Berkeley, the other with his advanced degree from Northwestern University.
What followed was a quarter-century run of unmatched excellence in newspaper and magazine production. During this time, the journalism and photo programs at Pierce received more awards than any other college in the nation.
With the turn of the century came a new phase of journalism often referred to as “convergence” reporting. No longer can students just focus exclusively on writing for print media, photography, or even broadcasting. Today’s communicators ” be they journalists, public relations professionals or webmasters ” will need to learn how to produce copy and graphics for traditional print, broadcast and online media.
In Fall of 2006, The Roundup went online, followed by The BULL in Spring 2007.
In that vein, the Media Arts Department is adapting its curriculum to offer courses in the new media and to insure that all students are cross-trained in all of its aspects.
Founding faculty members Ben Adelson, Mike Cornner, Tom Kramer, Rob O’Neil and Bob Scheibel have retired, but a new generation of teachers, both full-time and adjunct, are implementing the new curriculum. Meet our current faculty on this website and discover the wide variety of offerings in communication…
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Pierce College Media Arts Department Plagiarism Policy
Effective May 2011
The following policy has been adapted for use in the Pierce College Media Arts Department from the University of Florida’s Department of Journalism with permission from University of Florida professor David Carlson. (http://www.jou.ufl.edu/academic/jou/honesty/).
You should consider this plagiarism policy as the law of the Pierce College Media Arts Department. The Media Arts Department also abides by the Pierce College Standards for Academic Dishonesty, which can be found in the Pierce College Catalog.
Click HERE to download the department policies.