<p>I'm not sure if I want to be a Political Analyst or a Political Journalist. What should I major in?</p>
<p>Can you major in both fields, or major in one and minor in the other? Or, major in political science, take some journalism/writing courses, and learn your journalism skills via work on student media and internships.</p>
<p>you should definitely do both. double majoring in journalism and political science wouldn’t be that hard but if you’re interested in poli sci, you def shouldn’t just do journalism. knowing how to write will be useless if you have nothing to write about.</p>
<p>I wandered over here from a theater forum where I am gathering info for my son…but I am a newspaper editor who has worked in Chicago, Florida and Washington State - now at a small paper in New Mexico.
I studied Political Science as an undergrad and then went to J School for a master’s. Yes, you can and should do both …You do not need to major in journalism but you should take enough classes to understand and work in digital media, photography and design. You should also make sure to take one class each in media law and business law…and one or two classes in longer-form news writing (magazine, feature writing). If possible, learn Excel and other databases and take a course in basic statistics.
It is more important to work on your college newspaper. Walk into the office the first week you are on campus and offer to do anything you can for the college paper…Do not go to a college that does not involve students in publishing a college newspaper. It is only by writing news and journalism stories that you will learn journalism writing.
Beyond that, you should major in something else: political science, economics, health, biology, music, history, whatever you want to spend your time covering as a news reporter is what you should study.</p>
<p>santafedad, I found your response very helpful. I wanted to know your opinion about a similar conflict that I’m having. I’m a licensed attorney (age: 28) in Mexico City. I have a profound interest in international relations, I want to dedicate myself to the analysis of international affairs, politics and international conflict for a major newspaper or magazine (like CNN en Espa</p>
<p>If you want to go into media work you will need a master’s in Journalism…that is the only way to get those skills as it is too late to work at your college paper 
If you want to ultimately go into foreign affairs - as a professor, a state department or Congressional staffer, or with a private company or think tank, then you should get a degree in International Relations or a related field.
If you are a practicing attorney, I doubt the salaries in journalism or the hours (weekends, nights and holidays) - even at the top of the profession - will be able to equal what you are used to.<br>
I’m not on this site very often, so feel free to PM if I can be of further help.
Good luck</p>
<p>In order to be an accredited J-school, you must earn more libral arts credits than journalism credits. That said, some school insist you double major, like UMiami, and some just want a minor or concentration. If you learn to write and nothing else, what will you write about?</p>