UC journalism grad uses media studies to carve path to success
Arts and Sciences alumna finds doors open with video, screenwriting education
By Rebecca Schweitzer
As a Cincinnati native, Briana Rice always felt at home at the University of Cincinnati. This familiarity, and the opportunities offered from the College of Arts and Sciences, are why she chose to earn her degree at UC—and landed a dream role with The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Rice graduated from UC in August, 2019 with a double major in journalism and digital media collaborative with a certificate in screenwriting. During her time at UC, she expanded her professional experience through opportunities offered directly from A&S and UC as a whole.
“The cool thing about the College of Arts and Sciences is that I had a lot of room to try different things,” Rice said. “As a journalism and digital media major, I took video editing, screenwriting and reporting classes over the years.
“I also was able to join several journalism-focused and student media organizations. I really appreciated that UC gave student clubs a budget so that we could organize events, trips and programming.”
The Department of Journalism at UC has recently been focused on growth and new methods of expansion in order to offer students a fully rounded education with numerous academic opportunities and internships like those that helped Rice forward her career.
About 200 students major in journalism and an additional 30 students are pursuing a journalism, digital broadcast or literary journalism certificate. Students are prepared for the field through courses such as broadcast news, feature writing, photojournalism, investigative reporting and many others.
Through the A&S journalism program, students have been able to obtain prestigious internships with NBC’s “Today” show and USA Today. The Cincinnati Enquirer, WCPO-TV, Bloomberg and Vox have all hired UC graduates.
Due to UC’s size and location in the city, it is able to offer students opportunities through local connections. Rice landed her first internship at The Enquirer through Internship Day hosted by the Journalism Department.
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