The Documentary program combines world‐class training in how to be a reporter with professional skills in the craft of long-form visual storytelling. Students spend over nine months learning how to:
The additional semester, completed during the summer, allows students to produce and edit their video Master’s Project. Documentary journalism students generally work in teams and get individual coaching from advisers who are recognized documentary producers. We expect the resulting films to be published: online, on cable or on broadcast.
Documentary Leadership: Raney Aronson-Rath
Raney Aronson-Rath, ’95 M.S., is an award-winning executive producer of FRONTLINE (PBS) and the new Editor-at-Large for Columbia Journalism School’s M.S. Documentary Specialization. In this role, she will advise documentary students on story development, offer strategic guidance on their projects, and provide insight from decades of experience in investigative filmmaking.
Curriculum
During the fall semester, students take the core Reporting class and Video for Doc students to learn shooting and editing. Concurrently, during the first semester, students learn about the documentary canon and workshop story ideas for their own films. Projects are approved for production by the time the spring semester begins.
During the spring semester, students get hands‐on production experience and learn to craft compelling stories. By the end of the semester, they pitch a work‐in‐progress trailer to a group of commissioning editors from major outlets. In the past, these editors have included representatives from the Sundance Documentary Fund, HBO and CNN.
Students complete their Master's Project documentary during the summer semester. Their films are showcased at the annual Columbia Journalism School DocFest.
In addition to the required classes, Documentary students choose from the many spring classes that are open to all students.
Semester Breakdown
M.S. Documentary Specialization Semester Breakdown
Student Work
Leilani Combs, ’25 M.S. Documentary, produced a video on New York’s response to 13 unprovoked shark encounters in 2022 and 2023. Her report includes interviews with Long Island shark experts who warn the state’s measures may be ineffective and misleading.
Naeem Amarsy, '25 M.S. Documentary, and Natalie Ruiz-Pérez, ’25 M.S. Documentary, co-created the film Tide and Time, which follows Don Riepe, a longtime protector of New York City’s Jamaica Bay, highlighting the impact of climate change and sea level rise on his community and the bay’s shrinking salt marshes.
From the classroom to the field
The Examination and The New York Times Win 2026 John B. Oakes Award; Inside Climate News and The Washington Post Named Finalists
As millions follow the action, alumni are covering the stories on and off the field.
Honorees produced winning work with books, visual craft, investigations and international coverage.