Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

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Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Image:cjournalism.gif
Established 1912
School type Private
Dean Nicholas Lemann
Location New York, New York, USA
Enrollment ca. 270
Homepage www.jrn.columbia.edu/

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of the most prestigious schools of journalism in the world. It is the only journalism school in the Ivy League; it awards the Pulitzer Prize and duPont-Columbia Award; co-sponsors the National Magazine Award and publishes the Columbia Journalism Review. The School is located in Journalism Hall on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus in the New York City borough of Manhattan.

The school’s genesis came in 1892, when New York City newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer, publisher of the New York World, offered Columbia University money to set up the world's first school of journalism. The university initially turned down the money. Regardless, Pulitzer left the university $2 million in his will, which led to the creation of a journalism school at Columbia in 1912. He also erected and endowed both the building and the School in memory of his daughter, Lucille.

"My idea," Pulitzer wrote in a 1902, "is to recognize that journalism is one of the great and intellectual professions; to encourage, elevate and educate in a practical way the present and, still more, future members of that profession." 78 students attended the first day of classes on September 25, 1912. The school started with both undergraduate and graduate curricula.

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution the School was accused of involvement in US government training for the Kuomintang. In 2000, former Vice President Al Gore served as a visiting professor after his election loss.

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[edit] Curriculum

In 1935 the undergraduate curriculum was dropped and the School adopted a program at the graduate level. Today, the School offers three degree programs: a Master of Science (M.S.) in journalism, a Master of Arts (M.A.) in journalism, and a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in communications.

The school includes courses in radio, television, magazine, newspaper, and, most recently, new media journalism. The School has the highest percentage of technology resources, per student, of any school at Columbia.

The school's graduate curriculum for the Master of Science degree is considered to be a rigorous hands-on course which is taught during a one-year program. All students take Reporting and Writing One, a School staple, where they are taught journalism techniques. In RW1, students are assigned a neighborhood in New York City to cover as a reporter and write stories on various topics and issues. These stories are then critiqued by professors and classmates. In addition to beat coverage, RW1 students cover breaking news and do long term investigative projects. RW1 classes are limited to no more than 16 students and classes are known to become close knit. Broadcast students take a special RW1 that combines print and broadcast techniques.

Students also take speciality classes in various aspects of reporting with options including, political reporting, education reporting, arts reporting, opinion writing, copy editing, and sports reporting. All students are required to take a law class, an ethics class, attend weekly all class lectures, and write a master's project.

There is an ongoing debate over whether the j-school should include academic studies along with classes that emphasize the craft of journalism and, most especially, writing. The school's alumni and many professors, troubled by possible changes to the current curriculum, consider the teaching of "shoe-leather" reporting to be more constructive than woolly-heady theories on mass communication.

Though such theory-oriented programs are popular at other journalism schools, Columbia has eschewed unproven these media studies, regarded as nonsense to many veteran journalists, sticking instead to its tried and true news-gathering techniques that have served generations of its alumni in writing the first draft of history.

Still, many students find it difficult struggling under onerous debts attending the program, which approximately costs around $60,000 a year if all expenses are included. However, there are plenty of scholarships available and the school tries its hardest to be generous.

During the spring semester, students take a specialty class, either in newspaper, radio, television, magazine or new media. Newspaper concentrators work either on the Bronx Beat, which is a weekly newspaper serving the South Bronx or on the Columbia News Services, a wire service of feature stories, serving 500 newspapers nationally.

In 1984, George T. Delacorte (Columbia College, Class of 1913) endowed the George T. Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism at the School. The Center’s purpose is the teaching of magazine writing and production, to sponsor scholarships for magazine journalism and to study the exciting and competitive business of trade journals and glossy up-market publications. The Delacorte Center is located on the Journalism Building's 8th floor.

The Master of Arts program is debuting in September 2005 as a way to add a new academic approach to the school. Open only to graduates of the MS program, the students will participate in a one year program to obtain a second MA degree. Students in this program will take classes in both the Journalism School and in other parts of the University. They will concentrate in either Arts, Science, Business, or Politics. Classes will be taught in a cross disciplinary approach with an academic bent.

[edit] Journalism Building

Journalism Building
Journalism Building

The Journalism School is housed in Journalism Building on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus. The building, which was constructed as a part of Pulitzer's creation of the school, sits on the southeast corner of W. 116th Street and Broadway at the university's main entrance. A statue of Thomas Jefferson, sculpted by William Ordway Partridge in 1914, stands before the School's entrance.

In addition to classroom space, Journalism Building contains a large lecture hall, computer rooms, a library, and television and radio studios. The building also contains the World Room, which is used for ceremonial events and is where the Pulitzer Prizes are announced each year.

Historically, the School has been the recipient of many of the relics of Pulitzer's New York World newspaper, including furniture and artwork from the World's offices, emblazoned with its trademark globe logo, a bronze bust of Pulitzer, sculpted by Auguste Rodin, and a tremendous stained-glass window from the editorial board room featuring the Statue of Liberty standing atop the earth.

[edit] New dean and curriculum changes

More recently, Columbia University president Lee Bollinger suspended the search for a new dean in 2003 and formed a committee to re-evaluate the School’s core mission, which many had derided for being too centered on craft at the expense of theory. Following an uprising by students, alumni, and faculty, an overhaul of the program was dropped and the MA program was created.

In April 2003 University President Lee Bollinger announced that Nicholas Lemann, prominent author and Washington Correspondent for The New Yorker would become the next dean of the journalism school. Lemann was a part of Bollinger's task force and a strong proponent of the new MA program.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] See also

[edit] External links


Schools of Columbia University
Columbia College • School of General Studies • Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science • Barnard College (Affiliate) • Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation • School of the Arts • Graduate School of Arts and Sciences • Graduate School of Business • School of Continuing Education • College of Dental Medicine • School of International and Public Affairs • Graduate School of Journalism • Columbia Law School • School of Nursing • College of Physicians and Surgeons • Mailman School of Public Health • School of Social Work • Jewish Theological Seminary (Affiliate) • Teachers College (Affiliate) • Union Theological Seminary (Affiliate)
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