The Economics and Communication departments are coming together to create an interdisciplinary minor for business journalism. The students can not only get a better understanding of the business world, but they will be learning about communications and the importance of journalism.
Professor and Chair of the Economics Department Dr. Jeremy Schwartz is excited about the program and can’t wait to be a part of it. The business courses needed are microeconomics and macroeconomics with one business elective course. Business electives range from finance, marketing, accounting, and economics.
“If we could have some students who are interested in journalism, not only have journalism classes, but also have the background in business and economics, they would just be better, better reporters in the field… students might be more marketable, having again, both the communication skills, but also the expertise in the field that they might be reporting on,” Dr. Schwartz said.
Communication Department Chair and Professor Dr. Masudul Biswas has worked with the economics department to have a finite idea of the minor. Already having other journalism specialties, business could be added to that list. In Sellinger business school, a student’s knowledge of economics is a key factor when it comes to business journalism. Required communications courses are media writing and business journalism with one journalism and storytelling elective.
“Business is a very big school those who do minor in communication, [are] business school students 73% of our minor last time I checked are business students. So they do mostly ad and PR and digital media,” Dr. Biswas said.
As a part of the communication department, Professor Rob Terry teaches the business journalism course here at Loyola. Prof. Terry has worked at the Baltimore Business Journal, Washington Business Journal, and a business and technology magazine in Montgomery County, Md. He’s worked in business journalism for just over 20 years. He teaches his students a general sense of the business world and the components involved in it, as well as how the economy and markets are influenced. Professor Terry hopes the students take this knowledge and apply it to whatever they want to do.
“I think just the general knowledge of any of those things, as I’ve said to the students all semester, can come in handy whether you’re crafting a piece of business journalism on deadline, or if you’re writing a press release, or if you’re working on a website project for a big company, and they need you to tell their story in a digital way online that engages with readers, all that stuff is applicable,” Prof. Terry said.
An interdisciplinary minor in business journalism will be something that students in communication, economics, and other majors can sign up for starting in the fall of 2024.
“For students to learn how businesses, markets, and economies work, and how they impact companies, and organizations, and people. I think that’s invaluable knowledge that you can take into any communication field, frankly, not just business. They’re not just journalism, yet it’s complex. It’s constantly evolving,” Prof. Terry said.
