New Media Degrees: What Coursework is Included in a Typical New Media Program?

What is New Media?

Southeastern University’s Online Learning Division describes new media as “those digital media that are interactive, incorporate two-way communication, and involve some form of computing.” New media is very easily processed, stored, transformed, retrieved, hyperlinked, and, perhaps most radical of all, easily searched for and accessed. Social media, blogs, video games and online news outlets are typically referred to as “new media.” These channels of communication have far-reaching implications for society, including in business and politics.

A distinction between new media and old media is that old media is for the most part mass media. In addition, each form of new media is highly interactive, while mass media is not. Users of new media are active producers of content and information, whether sending an email or using Internet collaboration tools.

What are the Types of Courses for New Media Programs?

Course examples for new media programs include:

Find a school

• Animating the News
• Coding Interactive and News Packages
• Data Journalism
• Digital News Production
• Interactive Narratives: Future Storyforms
• Introduction to Data Visualization
• Legal Aspects of Media
• Multimedia Development and Editing
• Multimedia Reporting
• New Media and Communications
• New Media Publishing and Distribution
• Public Relations and Reputation Management
• Research and Investigation Skills Development
• Social Media and Online Community Development
• Video Reporting
• Visual Journalism
• Writing for Interactive Media

In the last year of a new media program, students will complete a portfolio and/or final creative project. In addition, students may complete an internship. The internship opportunity allows students to gain hands-on experience in the field and make valuable contacts in the industry. 

What Can I Do With a Degree in New Media?

New media graduates can find positions in everything from broadcasting to web design. Possible careers include data journalism (both data-visualization and data reporters), data mining side of investigative journalism, multimedia reporter, web video producer, visual journalist, and new storyform journalist (i.e. VR, 360 video, gaming, interactive docs, etc.), web editor, web developer, or other production related roles in online journalism, social media editor, app developer, and entrepreneur.