Program Description

The M.S. in Journalism combines traditional reporting, multimedia storytelling and journalistic ethics with cutting-edge issues in the media industry, including data visualization, solutions journalism, and inclusive community engagement. The program is designed to meet the needs of students of varying backgrounds, including those who are new to journalism, recent graduates, and working media professionals seeking to advance their skills and their careers. The 33-credit program is offered by Stony Brook’s School of Communication and Journalism, which is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC).

Students will take classes that enhance their multimedia storytelling skills. They will gain an understanding of media law and fully engage with the ethics of journalism as defined by the Society of Professional Journalists. They will  examine data to find and tell stories in ways that are accurate and engaging. They will explore solutions journalism, and learn to look for stories about organizations and communities seeking to solve problems in unique ways. Underpinning these skills, students will learn to question their own biases and recognize how their experiences shape how they see and interact with individuals and societies. Students become media professionals who understand and are committed to working within and among the communities they cover.

Students will learn from leading journalists, including Pulitzer-Prize winners and foreign correspondents, and experts in audience engagement and innovation. They will learn and work in professional spaces, including the School’s two-story newsroom and state-of-the-art broadcast studio and control room. They will complete professional projects and network with industry professionals working in and around Long Island and New York City.

Student Learning Outcomes

Our program has been designed to meet programmatic outcomes that are outlined in the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC)’s professional values and competencies (listed below). ACEJMC Professional Values & Competencies require that, irrespective of their particular specialization, all graduates should be aware of certain core values and competencies and be able to:

1. Understand and apply the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press for the country in which the institution that invites ACEJMC is located, as well as receive instruction in and understand the range of systems of freedom of expression around the world, including the right to dissent, to monitor and criticize power, and to assemble and petition for redress of grievances;
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the history and role of professionals and institutions in shaping communications;
3. Demonstrate an understanding of gender, race ethnicity, sexual orientation and, as appropriate, other forms of diversity in domestic society in relation to mass communications;
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of peoples and cultures and of the significance and impact of mass communications in a global society;
5. Understand concepts and apply theories in the use and presentation of images and information;
6. Demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity;
7. Think critically, creatively and independently;
8. Conduct research and evaluate information by methods appropriate to the communications professions in which they work;
9. Write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and purposes they serve;
10. Critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness;
11. Apply basic numerical and statistical concepts;
12. Apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work; and
13. Contribute to knowledge appropriate to the communications professions in which they work.

(See: http://www.acejmc.org/policies-process/nine-standards/) All syllabi have been designed to ensure that students develop these competencies and have opportunities to refine them over the course of their program.

Stony Brook University has begun ongoing implementation of a comprehensive “ Plan for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, ” and is committed to broadening participation of students from historically underrepresented groups in careers in journalism and mass communication. Particularly noteworthy is the SBU Graduate School’s Center for Inclusive Education , which is home to funded projects designed to grow the pool of diverse scholars pursuing full-time graduate studies, advancing into postdoctoral positions and successfully transitioning to competitive careers in research and the Academy.