Some view student journalism as just a learning tool to prepare students for life after graduation, but student journalism has become a powerful and credible source of news.

The University of Alabama’s student run newspaper The Crimson White, recently covered the sensitive subject of segregation among sororities on campus. The student journalists faced sources wanting to remain off the record, and other obstacles, but managed to pull out a story that national networks began covering.

Without the devotion of the student journalists, the story would have never been uncovered.

Randall High School student journalist recently spent a week as a pregnant teenager to gauge student reactions for a newspaper article. With the approval of her principal, teacher, and boyfriend, Student Kelli Blashill put her idea into reporting on her journalism project and has begun to raise questions in the community regarding the nuts and bolts of basic journalism.

These journalists and other student journalists are willing to cover more news-based and controversial stories. Student journalists are taught the importance of reporting the facts and stories that the public needs to know.  With the wide variety of stories that these journalists cover, local and national news outlets have begun to see the power that lies within these upcoming journalists.

Constantly forced to improve their writing assignments, student journalists have a passion to succeed in the industry. College journalists have a leg up in the business. They still talk about the fundamentals of journalism daily. They are practicing journalists that put major emphasis on the elements of journalism while playing out everyday motions. There are conversations over ethics, who journalists should remain loyal to, and what makes a good news story. The academic world has become more competitive and recently graduated students take that drive into the workplace and implement it into their writing.

A college journalist today has to be well rounded in all aspects of the trade, ranging from writing skills to layout and social media knowledge. Hungry for knowledge and experience, college journalists are the ones  major and local news networks should be on the look out for when hiring new employees.