Communications for a city or company. Writing books. Creating company manuals and handbooks.

Many people never use the major they get it just serve as a way to get their foot in the door somewhere. But I think the writing field is useful because its one of those skills you need throughout your whole life.

Yes, they majored in English or Journalism, but they didn’t major in “professional writing,” because that degree didn’t exist when people like Couric were in school. It’s a later development, and it is not the same as a solid English or solid Journalism degree. My father was a journalist who did his college degree in English and later took graduate Journalism courses at a Journalism school. “Professional writing” seems to prepare people for non-scholarly careers in which writing might be needed: grant writing, for example, or “corporate communications” and “public relations”. The Carnegie Mellon site below claims that “journalism” is included, but it’s clear that we’re talking about business contexts when it comes to “professional writing”. If you want to be a journalist, print or broadcast, do a journalism/English degree, or combine such a degree with another in the type of journalism that interests you most: politics, business, etc.