Master of Science Degree

Applicants may apply to the 9½-month M.S. program or to one of two specialized tracks:

• The Stabile Investigative Program offers rigorous training in investigative reporting techniques, preparing students to uncover and document wrongdoing, hold power to account and produce deeply reported journalism.
• The Documentary Program trains students in the art of visual storytelling and nonfiction filmmaking. Students in this program complete a third semester to finish their films.

Students accepted into either of these specializations follow a set curriculum in their area while also completing the core M.S. requirements. Applicants to the Stabile or Documentary specializations may also request to be considered for the general M.S. program if not accepted into the specialized track.

In addition to these specializations, all M.S. students may select a Sequence — a subject-area focus that shapes part of their coursework and reporting experience. Sequences allow students to dive deeper into specific forms of journalism or topics, including Arts Reporting, Audio Storytelling, Climate Reporting, Immigration Reporting, Photojournalism, Sports Reporting and Visual Craft.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SEQUENCES

M.S. students begin their coursework by taking a reporting module that explores the ways journalists gather and analyze information. Students meet with instructors in small-group seminars to discuss techniques and issues, then put what they’re learning into practice as they cover beats, develop enterprise stories and report breaking news on deadline.

Classes cover a wide range of journalistic specializations, practices and techniques, as well as the business of journalism and emerging technologies. Students can choose to focus on a medium, such as long-form narrative, photojournalism or video production; or on a subject area such as education, business or religion reporting.

Classes include:

• The Written Word, a 7-week module in which students learn to write engaging stories or scripts for an audience, and begin to develop a voice. They can opt, within this module, to take a class focusing on news, on feature writing, on long-form narrative, or on writing for the ear.
• Image & Sound, a 7-week module in which students pick a medium -- audio, data, photo or video -- and explore its technologies and its storytelling potential.
• Investigative Techniques, a 7-week module that teaches students how to think like investigative reporters as they dig into records, conduct internet forensics and do thorough background searches on individuals and corporations.
• Journalism Now, a series that brings journalists and media leaders to the Journalism School to address current issues and concerns. The series, which takes place most Tuesdays in the fall semester, is designed to complement what students are learning in their classes and provide them an opportunity to meet leading practitioners.

You may also take: 

• Journalism Essentials, classes which focus on journalism law, ethics, history and the business forces affecting the news media.
• Two 15-week spring seminar and production courses, which give students a chance to dive deep into areas that interest them, whether that’s a medium such as book writing, broadcast news, photojournalism or digital publishing, or a subject area such as business journalism, conflict reporting or education writing.
• The Master’s Project, in which students, working under the guidance of individual advisors, conduct an in-depth exploration of a topic as a journalist would pursue it. Master’s Projects can take a variety of forms, some of them incorporating elements from more than one medium: print, photo, audio, video, data.

Learn about published student coursework:

• Covering Religion 
• The Memory Project
• City Newsroom