CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism opened its doors in September 2006 with a mandate from Chancellor Matthew Goldstein to quickly establish itself as one of the top graduate schools of journalism in the nation.

Students in the first three classes have hailed from across the country and throughout the world, and many turned down offers from other top journalism schools to attend the new CUNY J-School. In keeping with the School's mission to diversify newsrooms and provide opportunity to those who otherwise could not afford a masters program, the student body is among the most diverse of any graduate school of journalism in the nation.

In the intensive, three-semester, full-time program, students concentrate in a media track (print, broadcast or interactive), but all students are exposed to storytelling in multiple media formats. Students also select a subject-matter concentration for their reporting (urban affairs, international, business/economics, arts/culture, or health/medicine). Core required courses cover reporting, writing and research techniques; legal and ethical issues; broadcast essentials; and fundamentals of interactive/online journalism.

A summer internship is required, in which students do work ranging from research to reporting, writing, editing, producing and shooting. A grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation guarantees that all students receive at least $3,000 for the summer.  Students have won rave reviews from employers at a broad range of media outlets, including: ABC News, Bloomberg Television, BusinessWeek.com, the New York Daily News, ESPN The Magazine, NY1 News, The New York Times web video group, Reuters Television, and Washingtonpost-Newsweek Interactive.

The NYCity News Service, a web-based service, distributes student work to news organizations across the City and beyond; all student stories, including audio and video works, are posted on the news service website, www.nycitynewsservice.com. Students also create content for a weekly 30-minute radio podcast, NYPulse.

Other distinguishing features of the program include a January enrichment academy offering non-credit workshops and a partnership with CUNY TV, a 24/7 cable outlet reaching 2 million viewers, which airs top student stories.

Faculty at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and the news service editor are all practicing journalists with years of experience on national publications and broadcast outlets; four are Pulitzer Prize winners.

The School now has two classes of graduates; a high percentage have secured jobs or paid internships at national and local news organizations.