Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Established	1912
School type	Private
Dean	Nicholas Lemann
Location	New York City, USA
Enrollment	ca. 270
Homepage	www.journalism.columbia.edu

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism (full and part-time), Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications. The school is located on Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus in Manhattan.

In addition to graduate degree programs, the Journalism School administers several prizes, including the Pulitzer Prize and the DuPont-Columbia Award. It also co-sponsors the National Magazine Award and publishes the Columbia Journalism Review, essentially a trade publication for journalists.

A faculty of experienced journalists with varying specialties—including politics, arts and culture, religion, science, education, business and economics, investigative reporting, national and international affairs—instruct Journalism School students. Faculty members are preeminent in their fields, and many have won numerous journalism awards including the Pulitzer Prize, the Guggenheim Fellowship, the duPont-Columbia Award, the National Magazine Award, and the National Book Award.

History

The Journalism School was founded with a bequest from Joseph Pulitzer. In 1892, Pulitzer offered Columbia University's president, Seth Low, money to set up the world's first school of journalism. The university initially turned down the money. Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler was more receptive to the plan, however.^[1]

It took the university many years to act on Pulitzer's $2 million gift and pitch for a journalism school. Classes began on Sept. 30, 1912 with a student body of about 100 undergraduate and graduate students from 21 countries. The building was still under construction at the time.^[2]

In 1935, Dean Carl Ackerman led the school's transition to become the first graduate school of journalism in the United States. Classes of 60 students dug up stories in New York City during the day and drafted articles in a single, large newsroom in the journalism school at night.^[2]

Academic programs

Columbia Journalism School's 10-month master of science program offers aspiring and experienced journalists the opportunity to study the skills, the art, and the ethics of journalism by reporting and writing stories that range from short news pieces to complex narrative features. Students choose from one of four specializations: newspaper, magazine, broadcast, or new media. Some students interested in investigative reporting are part of Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, a sub-specialization of the M.S. program. The M.S. program is also offered on a part-time basis.^[3]

The Graduate School of Journalism offers approximately $4.4 million annually in fellowships and scholarships to students. Throughout the year, the Journalism School hosts sessions on campus in New York City and around the country to provide information about its programs and career advancement in journalism.^[4]

The school also offers dual-degree programs in collaboration with other schools at Columbia: Journalism and Law; Journalism and Business; Journalism and Religion; Journalism and International and Public Affairs; and Journalism and Earth and Environmental Science. The school also offers dual-degree programs with Sciences Po in Paris and the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.^[5]

The nine-month master of arts program is for experienced journalists interested in focusing on a particular subject area: politics, science, business, or the arts. M.A. students work closely with Journalism School professors as well as professors from other academic departments at Columbia. The program is full-time.^[6]

The Ph.D. program draws upon the resources of Columbia University in a multidisciplinary approach to the study of communications. Students craft individual courses of study from the departments and divisions at the University, including Journalism, Political Science and Sociology, the professional schools of Business and Law, and Teachers College.^[7]

Student life

Journalism Building

Students study journalism in the classroom, but also by covering diverse neighborhoods of New York City with close guidance and mentoring from their professors. Students form intense bonds during their time at the school. Students are often invited to attend and participate in lectures, workshops, conferences, and receptions with journalists who visit the school. The school's student government is run through the University chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the world's largest journalism organization. Student officers organize events throughout the year, including field trips, panel discussions, and community service projects.

The Stabile Student Center, completed in 2008, includes a café, computer workstations, teaching labs, conference rooms, and the school library. Technical resources at the school include more than 150 multimedia computers in laboratories and edit suites, the Roone Arledge broadcast studio, a radio studio, and an equipment room housing hundreds of media production kits for photography, audio and video.

Students publish their work in an array of platforms throughout the year, including ColumbiaJournalist.org, the online student publication of the school; Bronx Beat, a student-run weekly newspaper; Columbia News Service, a wire service that publishes student features in dailies around the country through The New York Times News Service; Columbia News Tonight, the weekly spring television newscast produced by students; and NYC24, a web site produced by the new media workshops, combining traditional reporting and writing skills with online journalism.

The Knight Case Studies Initiative aims to enhance the way journalism is taught in the U.S. and abroad by giving teachers and professionals new tools with which to work. The goal is to train students to think like newsroom managers and news industry leaders.

The career services staff—all former journalists with industry connections in print, broadcast, and online media—work with students to help them pursue jobs and internships. The annual spring career expo is one of the biggest journalism job fairs in the country, with more than 150 recruiters and editors attending. Career services web pages, accessible only to Columbia students and alumni, offer information about job hunting, and a jobs database updated daily.

The continuing education seminars and fellowships offer opportunities for experienced journalists and media executives to advance their knowledge and expertise. These include: The Punch Sulzberger News Media Executive Leadership Program, Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship, The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship, and the Columbia Publishing Course.

Journalism awards

The Journalism School administers many professional awards, a tradition that Joseph Pulitzer began when he established the school and endowed the Pulitzer Prizes at Columbia.^[8]

The Journalism School administers the Pulitzer Prizes; Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award; National Magazine Awards; The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes; John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism; Lukas Prize Project; John B. Oakes Awards; Mike Berger Award; and the Paul Tobenkin Award for Race Reporting.^[9]

School administration

• Nicholas Lemann, Dean and Henry R. Luce Professor
• Sreenath Sreenivasan, Dean of Student Affairs; Professor of Professional Practice
• William Grueskin, Dean of Academic Affairs

Faculty

• Floyd Abrams, William J. Brennan Jr. Visiting Professor of First Amendment Issues
• June Cross, Associate Professor
• Samuel G. Freedman, professor
• Sig Gissler, Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes
• Ari Goldman, professor
• David Hajdu, Associate Professor
• Richard R. John, Professor, School of Journalism
• David Klatell, Chair of International Studies; Professor of Professional Practice
• Victor Navasky, former editor of The Nation, Director of the Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism; Delacorte Professor of Journalism
• Sandy Padwe, former Dean of Academic Affairs, retired professor, currently an adjunct professor

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism people

See also

• Columbia Journalism Review
• duPont-Columbia Award
• Pulitzer Prize

References

1. ^ James Boylan, Pulitzer's School: Columbia University's School of Journalism. Columbia University Press (2003). pgs. 3-10, 13-16.
2. ^ ^{a b} "History of the Journalism School". Columbia University. 2010. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/page/5-history-of-the-journalism-school/5. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
3. ^ "Master of Science Degree". Columbia University. 2010. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/msprogram. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
4. ^ http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/about
5. ^ "Dual-Degree Programs". Columbia University. 2010. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/page/275-dual-degree-programs/278. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
6. ^ "Master of Arts in Journalism". Columbia University. 2010. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/page/199-master-of-arts-in-journalism/200. Retrieved 2011-01-09. 
7. ^ http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/academics
8. ^ http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/awards
9. ^ "Journalism Awards". Columbia University. 2010. http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/page/9-journalism-awards/9. Retrieved 2011-01-16. 

External links

• Columbia Journalism School website
• Columbia Journalism Review website
• Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is at coordinates 40°48′27″N 73°57′48″W / 40.807524°N 73.963459°W / 40.807524; -73.963459 (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism)Coordinates: 40°48′27″N 73°57′48″W / 40.807524°N 73.963459°W / 40.807524; -73.963459 (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism)