Live and learn journalism on
Boston University’s campus
On-Campus Option: Three weeks designed for rising juniors, rising seniors and current seniors with journalism experience.
On-campus, NEWS WRITING: APPLICATIONS OPEN JAN. 2025.
Classroom starts each day with a review of journalism fundamentals in a collegiate format. A university-level journalism textbook provides daily readings and writing assignments. Instructors cover: story ideas; sources and research; interviewing; writing leads; story structure; writing for broadcast and web; accuracy; libel; ethics; and more.
Newsroom, scheduled before lunch, provides time for students to apply what they learn in the Classroom to hands-on journalism assignments. Instructors — now serving as editors — divide students into small reporter teams, make assignments, and provide strategies for interviews and story angles. Over the rest of their day, students fan out around campus or in the city of Boston to conduct interviews and gather information. Typically, they report on city council proceedings, political races, human interest features, sports, and more, producing original stories over the three-week session for their personal portfolios.
Guest Talks offer students advice and insight from journalism experts in topics such as radio reporting, media law and studying journalism in college. Students also visit city newsrooms to hear from reporters where they work, such as WBUR public radio and the Boston Globe. Sessions feature three Guest Talks during each three-week session.
Experience a taste of campus life.
The Summer Journalism Academy also serves as an exploration of campus life. Students will stay in Boston University residence halls and will receive a dining hall meal plan. Each student will receive a temporary Boston ID. Instructors use materials from college courses and give students the freedom to pursue their own stories. Students also will have an opportunity to meet with the BU Admissions team as part of their experience.
Explore the great city of Boston.
We’ve made time for on-campus students to explore Boston and all it has to offer. We bring them to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Common, and the Freedom Trail of the Revolutionary War, with optional tours of Fenway Park and other sites. Independently or with supervision from BU peer advisers, students can explore Harvard Square or shop on Newbury Street. Many students take advantage of the trip to schedule college tours with Boston University, Harvard, MIT, Boston College, Tufts, Emerson, Northeastern and the many other schools in the area.
