About

Versatile courses

The Media Arts department offers courses in a variety of disciplines, including multimedia, photography, cinema, journalism, public relations and broadcasting. Class offerings include “Collecting and Writing News,” “Screenwriting,” “Magazine Editing,” “Beginning and Advanced Photography,” “Multimedia Storytelling,” “History of Documentary Film,” and more. Students can obtain degrees and specialized certificates, as well as enroll in transferable classes.

Cutting-edge curriculum

Pierce College has one of the few community college journalism programs in California that offers multimedia reporting, podcasting, online journalism production, and video editing. The department features a state-of-the-art facility, complete with studios, new computers, and industry-standard software.

Industry leaders

Graduates from Pierce College’s Media Arts program have gone on to work for the Los Angeles Times, Daily News, Associated Press, KCET, CBS, and other major media organizations. The department is staffed with highly experienced professors, along with adjunct instructors who currently work for major media and film organizations.

Practical experience

Students gain practical experience in a variety of disciplines through hands-on training in classes and working for campus publications. Several Media Arts students have earned internships at the Los Angeles Daily News, USA Today, CBS, FOX, KCET, Glendale News-Press, KTLA, and the Desert Sun. All graduates from the Media Arts program leave with a polished portfolio of work.

Publications

The Media Arts department is home to multiple award-winning publications, including The Roundup newspaper, The Bull magazine, theroundupnews.com, thebullmag.com, and KPCRadio.com. Students enrolled in broadcasting, journalism, and photography classes at Pierce College are responsible for the production of department publications.

History

The Media Arts department 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.

The “modern” department came into being in the early 1970s following the hiring of two World War II veterans-turned high school English teachers. What followed was a 25-year 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. Today’s communicators, “be they journalists, public relations professionals, or webmasters,” need to learn how to produce copy and graphics for traditional print, broadcast, and online media.

In that vein, the Media Arts Department adapted its curriculum to offer courses in the new media and to insure that all students are cross-trained in all of its aspects. Consequently, as a supplement to the department’s print publications, the Roundup newspaper and Bull magazine went online in the late 2000s.

Founding faculty members Ben Adelson, Mike Corner, 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.

Pierce College Media Arts Department Plagiarism Policy

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.