Beginning first or second term, students will be able to take a journalism course that has been over a year in the making.

EN 89 News Writing is a nine unit course that will be instructed by a professional journalist and will count towards general humanities credit.

The idea for a journalism class came out of a committee formed last year to investigate concerns about The Tech's quality, especially after the Tech published a porn review. The committee, which addressed the publication of offensive content, concluded that, "There is no course to educate students about the nature of journalistic writing and about the responsibilities of the journalist," and went on to recommend the creation of a journalism course.

The committee also recommended the creation of a staff manual and the online publication of The Tech, both of which have been recently implemented.

Last term, Marissa Cevallos, Tech editor, and Sonia Tikoo, Tech staff, submitted an MHF proposal to provide funding for the recommended course. The proposal included funding to hire an instructor, as well as to invite guest speakers to discuss journalism. The proposal was approved two weeks ago, paving the way for the creation of the new journalism class.

"I'm really excited about having a class in journalism," said Cevallos. "A lot of people come to the newspaper without ever having written an article before, so they have to learn news writing on the fly. The class would make it easier for potential writers to get feedback and improve quickly."