William Kirtz is a Journalism professor at Northeastern University rated 2.0/5 by 42 students, with 3.0/5 difficulty (TRACE + RateMyProfessors + Reddit, updated July 2026).
William Kirtz professor reviews and ratings: 2.0/5 from 42 student reviews at Northeastern. TRACE + RateMyProfessor + Reddit.
I know he does not teach anymore, thank God for that. NU should screen professors more thoroughly before hiring them. His courses were such a waste of time and money.J101 2019-12-18 14:28:53 +0000 UTC
One assignment was to write a news story based on a workbook story about an interview with some girl whose husband broke his foot because his landlord was crap. The answer is some dippy human interest thing, but I focused on the bad landlord. Kirtz gave me an E -- yes, an E -- and said "Next career? Probably not JRN." To be fair, he was right...JRN101 2015-05-18 01:58:26 +0000 UTC
Kirtz is a friendly guy if you just want someone to chit chat with, but he's arrogant and unwilling to listen. Gave me a 010 on a test because I wrote, in a long-form answer question, that an article was "attacking a man's character without basis in the truth." Kirtz wanted the specific use of the word "malice." Told me to "go away" when asked.JRN1101 2015-03-19 06:01:35 +0000 UTC
He talks and talks about generally the same thing every class. Very unclear grader-- got a B+ on something but his only remark on the paper was "Yeah!". Got an A+ with the exact same message on a different assignment. Never uses the textbook, don't buy it.JRNL1150 2013-11-25 13:07:46 +0000 UTC
I was a foreign student studying journalism (class of 83) and Kirtz was the worst experience I had during my NU years. I took me first journalism course with him and it was a disaster. He ignored the huge effort I made since English was not my mother tongue. He gave me an F and his advise was to drop out of journalism. I finished with honors.JOURN105 2012-06-10 13:41:46 +0000 UTC
OMG, Days news for Journalism is a classic. I just audited the course again 25 years after taking his class in 1986 and after 20 years in News print the last 10 as the editor of a large metro DC newspaper. If you can't understand or extract what he teaches in this class find a job in electronic media as you have no hope in print Journalism.JOURN150 2011-12-18 00:45:04 +0000 UTC
DROP THIS CLASS IF YOU CAN. By taking this class u are gambling with ur grade. It has no reflection on your abilities at all. Taking notes is useless because he talks about completely irrelevant stuff and dont bother to buy the book. He will not tell you how to improve your papers nor what is on the final/midterm. You just have to wing everything.DAYSNEWS 2010-04-29 22:17:32 +0000 UTC
I had him for days news, and he was terrible. all he does is talk and it isn't about anything important. you never use the textbook and the assignments are totally random. he is also a very sporadic grader, i don't know where any of my grades came from. he'll never notice if you miss class though.JRN150 2009-04-16 23:12:51 +0000 UTC
I had Kirtz for day's news and it's a miserable class. He rambles on and on about stories and people no one in the class has ever heard of. Talks about his Pulitzer prize winning son more than anything pertaining to journalism. Stay away from this guy if you can.JRNU150 2009-04-03 12:04:34 +0000 UTC
It depends on the class. IDN with him was easy. But News 2 was hard. He actually gave me a grade of "E" once (it's bad) and told me I'd never work in journalism. After that, I started reading his stuff, and started writing like him, and I started getting A's. Go figure. Later that year I transferred out of J school. I guess he was right.JRN1104 2008-03-25 13:18:36 +0000 UTC
I hate this class. As a person, Kirtz is a good guy, but as a teacher he is awful. I know more about his wife than I do Journalism. His assignments weren't helpful-10 page paper on news? It's virtually an impossibility. His tests are hard because you don't learn anything in class-if the administration puts you into this class opt out.JOR150 2007-12-03 09:05:22 +0000 UTC
kirtz is one of the most ridiculous men i have ever met. he has really great intentions & is a great guy - we get along so well & he goes out of the way to find opportunities for his students. unfortunately, he rambles & goes off topic all the time, and his classes are pretty boring. easy A though, as long as you understand the assignment.JRN440 2007-10-28 21:10:37 +0000 UTC
He's the worst teacher I've ever had.JRN102 2007-05-16 17:33:52 +0000 UTC
No CommentsJRN120 2007-01-25 20:38:21 +0000 UTC
No CommentsDAYS101 2006-10-03 13:16:56 +0000 UTC
William Kirtz has an average rating of 2.0/5 from 42 student reviews.
William Kirtz's classes have a difficulty rating of 3.0/5 based on student reviews.
William Kirtz has taught COMM4912, JRNL3305 at Northeastern.
Data updated July 2026.