Prof. Adam L. Penenberg is the director of NYU’s American Journalism Online Master’s program
Over the 15 years I’ve been a journalism professor at New York University, I’ve helped students from all kinds of backgrounds on their quest for a master’s degree. And I’ve witnessed a wide variety of career paths, from students fresh out of undergraduate programs to students who have worked in other industries to those with journalism experience looking to advance their skills and earning potential.
The majority end up at major news organizations. They land jobs as reporters and editors at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. They work at CNBC, NBC, CBS and the BBC. They pen cover stories for major magazines like The New Yorker, Forbes, Time, and GQ, and break stories at wire services like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones. And they investigate for newer digital publications like The Information.
But nothing gives me more satisfaction than the student who comes to us from a job at a regional newspaper or local news broadcaster in the hopes of climbing the career ladder. They seek to improve their writing and reporting skills, learn data visualization or to shoot and edit video. Or they want a better grounding in business or technology reporting so they can tackle the major economic stories of our time. Sometimes, they come to NYU to prepare for writing investigative or long-form narrative features at major magazines or breaking news at a fast-paced wire service.
We are, when you think about it, a career accelerator.
Until recently, however, only students willing to quit their jobs, uproot their lives and relocate to New York could take advantage of what we offer. But that has changed with our newly launched online master’s in journalism at NYU.
Now journalists from anywhere can earn their master’s from NYU without leaving home.
Earn an M.A. in journalism from NYU – without leaving home from NYU Journalism on Vimeo.
No matter where you live, a master’s degree can help advance your career. Students from around the country can pursue a rigorous course of study with internationally acclaimed faculty without the expense and hassle of having to relocate to New York City. Reporters in Memphis, St. Louis, Missoula, San Antonio and elsewhere can earn a master’s degree from NYU while continuing to report the stories that matter to their region.
This online master’s program is the exact opposite of a MOOC (massive open online class). Writing courses are capped at 15 students, and each student receives extensive feedback on every assignment. Through our online classroom platform, students have as much, if not more, face time with professors and one another.
Students collaborate to operate a professional publication, acting as everything from copyeditor to editor-in-chief, art director to managing editor, and everything between to build a portfolio of published work. Each student is paired with a professional journalist to serve as a mentor throughout their time in the program.
What’s more, students focus on the kind of journalism they want to pursue, whether it’s feature writing, breaking news, broadcast television, podcasting, business, technology, science or cultural reporting and more.
At NYU, we offer:
- World-class faculty and alumni mentors: Sometimes it’s all about who you know. NYU faculty and alumni are among the best in the business and contribute to publications like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, Forbes, Wired, CNN, and ABC News. You’ll be paired with a top professional to offer advice on your career path.
- The opportunity to build an impressive portfolio: Collaborate with classmates from around the world on a publication, run just like a newsroom — written, edited and produced by students. Amass clips, shoot and edit video, record podcasts and gain professional cred.
- Flipped classrooms: We’re turning the instructional model on its head. Students will study videos, podcasts, guided readings and other interactive materials on their own time. Then they will spend class time workshopping ideas, and editing and revising stories for our online publication with their professor’s guidance.
- Your choice of pathways: Students can earn a master’s degree from NYU in as little as a year, 18 months, two years, or attend part-time and go at their own pace.
- A journalism game, set in a virtual world: In collaboration with NYU’s Computer Science Department, we’re designing a game in which students don avatars and report out a story — conducting research, interviewing sources, filing Freedom of Information Act Requests and much more.
- Reporting exercises in 360-degree video: This immersive exercise drops students into locations around the world, where they can not only watch a recorded interview, but also take in the surrounding scene as if they are reporting the story in person.
Now with our new online master’s program, we can better fulfill our mission to improve the quality of journalism worldwide. Wherever students are, we can help them get to where they want to go.
