M.A. Degree
Depth. Rigor. Expertise.
Take your reporting and your career to the next level
The Master of Arts program trains a select community of experienced journalists to do deeper, more ambitious reporting and equips them with subject-area expertise, so they can explore complicated issues through compelling storytelling.
The program is designed for journalists who have been working for a while and want to strengthen their reporting and analytical skills - for example, with advanced investigative, data, interviewing, research, and narrative techniques - while deepening their expertise in one of four fields: Arts and Culture, Business and Economics, Politics, or Science.
Through various elective options, students can tailor their course of study to meet their needs, while focusing on a particular area. The M.A. Degree offers the unparalleled opportunity to study with both leading journalists and preeminent scholars in that field, as students work with intellectual rigor and nuance on sophisticated real-world journalism.
Students in the M.A. program form a strong, warm, and enduring community and join a network of more than 828 graduates.
Who should apply
Do you have journalism experience? Consider the M.A. program. It is designed for journalists who have at least three years of professional journalism experience. We are looking for intellectually curious students with demonstrable reporting experience and strong writing.
Applicants should be competent at the essential journalistic skills: research, interviewing and storytelling. Applicants do not need to have a background in the concentration to which they apply. We accept journalists who want to go deeper in a subject they already cover as well as those who want to shift focus to a new area.
Curriculum
The M.A. Program curriculum includes:
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M.A. Seminar: A special seven-week seminar for all M.A. students that concentrate on ideas and how to fully develop them using reporting skills.
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Evidence and Inference:This fall course, taken by the entire M.A. class, teaches a disciplined “journalistic method” of testing assumptions and making sure that reporting firmly proves its points. Students develop useful skills for working with statistics, using academic research and conducting in-depth interviews. They are also given advanced instruction in narrative technique, teaching them how to combine anecdote and storytelling with the big picture in rich, literate prose.
- M.A. Essentials: Investigative techniques are key to 21st century journalism. Students learn the best ways to comb public records, conduct internet forensics and do thorough background searches on individuals and companies. They gain an understanding of cutting-edge concepts in data journalism and how to employ them in coverage of their concentrations.
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Master’s Thesis: Every M.A. student undertakes a significant reporting project that results in a piece of long form journalism, guided in a one-on-one tutorial with a faculty adviser/editor. The thesis gives students the opportunity to explore a topic in depth and to synthesize what they learn in a sophisticated manner. Graduates have published and aired their theses in top‐tier outlets such as Harper's, The New York Times, This American Life, The New Yorker and The Guardian.
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Up to Three Graduate-Level Classes in Columbia University departments outside of the Journalism School to build deeper subject-area knowledge
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One or Two Seminar & Production Classes offered within the Journalism School to develop subject-area expertise (in courses like Arts Criticism, Covering Climate, Medical Narrative, Immigration Coverage, Covering Gender & Sexuality, and Business Reporting) and/or to build stronger skills (in courses like Longform Writing, Audio Reporting, Visual Storytelling, Investigations, and Data Journalism).
The students in the M.A. program change enormously in the space of just nine months. Their writing is transformed — and their way of thinking is transformed, and that is a very powerful experience.
You can recreate yourself, and the way you do things, and that’s very, very inspiring.
Explore Our Programs
Learn about our M.S., Dual Degree, M.S. Data Journalism and Ph.D. programs.