»Welcome to Broadcast Journalism and Documentary

Whether you want to create sports documentaries for ESPN, run a fast-based news show, work in reality TV or be a TV anchor, this is the major for you.

In our Broadcast Journalism and Documentary program (soon to be retitled Documentary, Sports Media and Journalism), you’ll learn all about how to make films, documentaries and breaking-news television shows, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. You’ll find out how to be an anchor and how to run a TV control room. You’ll be out in the field making documentaries on everything from skateboarders in Thailand to wildlife in Alaska.

You’ll discover how to interview powerful people and investigate the subjects you’re passionate about, then turn your research into compelling films or riveting news stories.

You’ll take classes in social issue documentary filmmaking, wildlife and environmental documentary, sports broadcasting and more, learning from professors who’ve made award-winning films and worked at such top companies as National Geographic, Netflix, Hulu and PBS. 

• State-of-the-art facilities. At Dodge, you'll hone your skills in a school that has the best facilities of any in the world, working in our multi-camera television studio and control room. You'll have free access to all the industry-standard tools you'll need to produce news shows, such as iNews and Avid, and digital cinema cameras such as the Red One and Sony F65. In our Dhont Innovation Hub, opening in February 2026, you'll work with virtual reality technology, a 45-foot wraparound green screen, and the newest AI software being used in non-fiction storytelling.
• Unparallelled travel opportunities. You'll create documentaries that tell captivating stories of real people around the world when you take advantage of our international travel courses. Recent trips have included Iceland, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
• Fascinating internships. We're right on the doorstep of the biggest media companies in the U.S., with top-level guests speaking to our students every day. Our students regularly land internships at places such as CNN, ESPN, HBO, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, National Geohraphic, Netflix and PBS, to name just a few.
• Clubs and organizations. Build your journalism skills and flex your creative muscles outside the classroom in one of our many clubs such as:

• • Club Doc: Watch films, create and discuss today's most relevant documentaries with fellow nonfiction students
  • Chapman Sports Broadcast Network (CSBN): Collaborate with fellow producers, directors and commentarots to produce high-quality broadcasts for Chapman's home games.

Sally Rubin
Associate Professor, Documentary Filmmaking
rubin@chapman.edu

Jeff Swimmer
Artistic Professor, Documentary Filmmaking
swimmer@chapman.edu

Christine Fugate
Assistant Professor, Documentary Filmmaking
fugate@chapman.edu

Suzanne Lysak
Associate Professor, Broadcast Journalism
lysak@chapman.edu

Kate Trumbull-Lavalle
Artistic Assistant Professor, Broadcast Journalism
ktrumbull@chapman.edu