NOTE: According to the Indiana Department of Education, the following courses may be counted as an ELA, communications, or elective credit toward the new diploma. Please reference the DOE’s companion document for further information.
JOURNALISM (Course #1080)
Journalism, a course based on the Indiana Academic Standards for English/Language Arts and the Indiana High School Journalism Standards, is a study of news elements, journalism history, First Amendment law, ethics, fact and opinion, copy editing, news, and features as they apply to print and digital media products. It includes a comparison study of journalistic writing to other types of English writing with practical application of news, features, editorials, reviews, columns, and digital media writing forms. For the second credit: Students continue to develop journalistic writing skills in addition to studying graphic design, advertising, public relations, photojournalism, and emerging media development and design in order to analyze messaging techniques and identify and avoid the presentation of false or misleading information. By the end of the semester, students write, shoot, and design stories for print and digital media products.
• High School Journalism Standards
• Journalism & English Language Arts Standards Correlation Document
DIGITAL MEDIA (Course #1084)
Digital Media, a course based on the Indiana Academic Standards for English/Language Arts and Media Literacy Standards, is a study of media literacy and production skills. This course examines the impact of informational, narrative, and persuasive media on everyday life. This course will focus on changes in media and includes practice in broadcast journalism, audio/visual storytelling, multimedia storytelling, as well as different platforms such as online and social media. Students will analyze local, national, and global media through the lens of law, ethics, and social responsibility. Students use course content to become knowledgeable consumers and producers of media. For the second credit: Students continue to develop media production skills in addition to continuing critical media analysis. By the end of the semester, students write and produce media projects.
• Digital/Mass Media and Media Literacy Standards
STUDENT MEDIA (Course #1086)
Student Media, a course based on the High School Journalism Standards and the Student Media Standards, is the continuation of the study of Journalism. Students demonstrate their ability to do journalistic writing and design for high school media, including school newspapers, yearbooks, and a variety of other media formats. Students follow the ethical principles and legal boundaries that guide scholastic journalism. Students express themselves publicly with meaning and clarity for the purpose of informing, entertaining, or persuading. Students work on high school media staffs so that they may prepare themselves for career paths in journalism, communications, writing, or related fields.
• Student Media Standards
Class titles and descriptions are from the Indiana Department of Education 2026-2027 course catalog. Any questions about the Indiana journalism, digital media, and student media courses may be directed to IHSPA Executive Director Ryan Gunterman,MJE, at rgunterman@franklincollege.edu.
*page updated July 30, 2026