The goal of the Graduate School of Journalism is to produce professional journalists who move on to positions of leadership and influence in American journalism. The Master of Journalism (MJ) program provides intensive training in journalism skills and a knowledge of the traditions and principles of the field. A professional project is required to complete the two-year program. The program is rooted in the idea that the best possible preparation for careers in journalism is a sound liberal arts education followed by training in journalism at the graduate level. Concurrent degree programs with Law, Asian Studies, International and Area Studies, Latin American Studies, and Public Health are available.
The school offers courses in print, broadcasting, documentary film, radio, television, multimedia, and photojournalism. All students must take a focused and demanding core course that stresses reporting and writing skills. This is because members of the faculty believe that the best way to train students for careers in journalism is to place them under the supervision and guidance of seasoned journalists in small classes; give them instruction in the skills and attitudes of the craft; and introduce them to intensive practice in reporting, writing, and editing. Professors give exhaustive critiques of students' work. Students are also required to take Journalism Law and Ethics and to complete a summer internship at a media outlet.
Beyond the core course, there are courses in specific areas such as political, business, environmental, community, science, international, and cultural reporting. There are also courses that focus on different techniques such as investigative reporting and magazine reporting. The curriculum also includes courses in copyediting and photography, as well as a sequence of courses in television and radio reporting.
Another group of courses is intended to increase understanding and practice of multimedia reporting. A host of web skills and software classes are offered to give student expert level training with these tools.
Applicants for graduate study should hold a bachelor's degree comparable to that given by the University of California. Requirements and procedures are outlined in the Graduate Application for Admission and Fellowships brochure, available at the Office of the Dean of the Graduate Division, and in the Announcement of the Graduate School of Journalism. Complete admissions information is available on the Journalism website.
The Graduate School of Journalism also offers courses for undergraduates designed to give them insight into journalism.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course is an intensive 15-week research and workshop experience. It provides the foundation for the rest of the curriculum offered at the J-School. 200 Stresses hard news reporting, writing, and editing. In small classes faculty members with extensive experience in newspaper reporting work to develop the scope and quality of the reporting and writing ability of their students. The researching, reporting, rewriting, and editing schedule is extensive and students work on a range of stories covering a broad spectrum of subjects. The aim is to produce professional level work--publishable newspaper stories--in an environment and timeline similar to a professional environment. Reporting the News: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-7 hours of seminar and 5-12 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Advanced study of reporting in more complex subject areas and more sophisticated writing styles. Advanced News Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 200 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar and 8 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
This is a required one-week intensive multimedia training workshop at the beginning of the fall semester to equip all first-year graduate journalism students with basic knowledge of digital storytelling techniques as well as the use of multimedia equipment and editing software to produce multimedia content. The objective is to train all students—regardless of their planned area of specialty—with some foundational digital skills to be applied during their reporting for the school’s local online news sites in the J200 Intro To Reporting class. The concepts and skills taught during the workshop also will be reaffirmed and expanded over the semester in the Multimedia Skills class. Multimedia Reporting Bootcamp: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 1 weeks - 15 hours of seminar and 15 hours of laboratory per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This course is an intensive laboratory course taken in conjunction with our core reporting class, 200. It is designed to simulate as closely as possible the deadline and production pressures of a modern, multi-media news organization. Students report to the newsroom during the week to receive their reporting assignments. Print, audio, and video elements are gathered, produced, edited, rewritten as necessary and then made available to pre-selected media outlets for publication. Each section will produce a themed final project. News Reporting Laboratory: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Spring 2019
Radio students may continue to develop their news and production skills in several formats: (1) the reporting and production of the weekly "Inside Oakland" program (broadcast on KALX-FM). Each episode explores a specific theme with focus on the geographic, cultural, and political entity known as Oakland; (2) the collaborative production of a documentary program focusing on a particular topic; (3) the development and production of independent long-form pieces for broadcast on different outlets. Advanced Radio: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Journalism 275 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
An exploration of magazine photography as applied to photo essay, day assignments and book projects, as well as content based lectures (location lighting, environmental portraiture, etc.) and critiques. Students work on in-depth assignments that include research, reporting, and photographing. Legal/ethical and business issues are explored, including fund-raising and grant writing to support extended projects. Documentary Photography: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Fall 2016
This class teaches the fundamentals of using digital video, audio, and photo equipment, as well as editing digital files. The class is designed to expose students to what it is like to report in a multimedia environment. While primarily for students taking new media publishing courses, the class will be valuable to any student who wants to better prepare for the emerging convergence of broadcast, print, and web media. Multimedia Skills: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of workshop per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
For journalists, the World Wide Web opens a powerful way to tell stories by combining text, video, audio, still photos, graphics, and interactivity. Students learn multimedia-reporting basics, how the web is changing journalism, and its relationship to democracy and community. Students use storyboarding techniques to construct nonlinear stories; they research, report, edit, and assemble two story projects. Multimedia Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Journalism 215 (can be taken concurrently); Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and iMovie or Final Cut Pro
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of workshop per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
A mini course is a four to ten-week intensive workshop designed to accompany and enhance other courses in the program. Workshop topics vary from semester to semester, but have included: Associate Producer, Sports Reporting, FOIA Reporting, Foreign Reporting, Bias and Journalism, Social Media, Sound Design and the Journalist as Freelancer. Mini-Special Topics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 4 weeks - 3 hours of workshop per week 5 weeks - 2-3 hours of workshop per week 6 weeks - 2-3 hours of workshop per week 10 weeks - 2 hours of workshop per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Journalism/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This course is an introduction to programming concepts as they relate to the journalism industry. The goal of this course is to equip students with a foundational technical literacy to construct interactive online stories such as data visualizations, infographics, maps, multimedia packages, games or innumerable other types of projects students may conceive.
Prerequisites: Students must have completed the Digital News Packages class in the fall. Students who have not taken this course should contact the instructor for exceptions to the prerequisite. Basic knowledge of jQuery is highly encouraged
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
This weekly three-hour course will explore the skills needed to find, clean, analyze and visualize data. The class consists of two hours of instruction and one hour of supervised lab time working on directed projects. Students will create a final project suitable for publication. The focus will be on free and open source tools that can immediately be applied to other projects and professional work.
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This class teaches students how to develop interactive online news packages using best practices in design and web development. The course focuses on story structure and production of content and will cover the following topics:
Best practices in developing interactive multimedia stories online;
Design fundamentals and typography for online content;
HTML and CSS for designing and constructing web projects;
jQuery coding for adding interactivity to online content.
Terms offered: Spring 2015, Fall 2013
"Visual journalism" explores narratives as they are designed, produced, and consumed in various digital forms. Students will have the opportunity to explore various digital technologies, create and produce narratives, and analyze stories in digital forms. DSLR video narrative, animated visual explainers, data visualization design will all be explored and will serve as the primary areas of inquiry for this project-driven course. New Media Visuals: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Advanced study of methods of reporting developments in such fields as science, education, health, or the environment. Science Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: For journalism students, Journalism 200 or equivalent; for others, consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 8 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Spring 2012, Fall 2010, Fall 2009
Study and discussion of politics and practice in reporting political events and campaigns. Political Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: For journalism students, 200 or equivalent; for others, consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 8 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Reporting and writing of business, financial, and consumer affairs. Business Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: For journalism students, 200
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 8 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020
This course teaches students code literacy. Beyond the specific skills they learn, students will have a more well-rounded understanding of crucial technologies that in influence the news industry in innumerable ways. They become better decision makers when working with technologists, and will help to forge the future of the journalism industry. This class covers prototypical object-oriented programming, an important component in many web coding languages. Topics covered include variables, typecasting, arrays, for-loops, conditional statements, comparison operators, functions, enclosures and cross-domain data requesting. This course will also cover popular data libraries like D3 and Pandas.
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2014
This course is designed for students who are interested in foreign reporting. Course will include a broad overview of the issues that need to be researched when reporting on the politics, economics, and social issues of a foreign country. Past classes have traveled to Mexico, China, Cuba, Hungary, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Peru. International Reporting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
In this workshop students use the profile form to develop a variety of skills that may be helpful whenever undertaking an ambitious story: figuring out what the story is and why you are writing it; interviewing; observation; background reporting; structuring material; finding your voice; describing people without resorting to cliche; crafting a lead from what seems an infinite number of possibilities. Readings will be from great magazine and newspaper profile writers. Profiles: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Journalism 200 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This class will trace the process of writing long-form pieces: how writers choose their sources, gather information, organize their material, and decide whether or not to believe what people tell them. Students will act as an editorial board for each other. Readings include profiles, books and book excerpts, Pulitizer-winning newspaper features, and magazine pieces from a variety of outlets. All assignments are intended for publication. Long-Form Writing: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Journalism 200 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2012, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
The reporting, writing, and editing of newspaper editorials and op-ed essays. Opinion Writing: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
The first eight weeks will concentrate on First Amendment and media law, including libel and slander, privacy, free press/fair trial conflicts, and litigation arising from controversial reporting methods. The closing weeks will focus on ethical dilemmas faced by reporters and editors. Using case studies, readings and guest lecturers, the course examines the murkier conflicts that don't necessarily make it to court but nevertheless force difficult newsroom decision-making. Law and Ethics: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 200 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
Students will be required to investigate leads that are received by the faculty, and prepare briefing papers for the class to introduce guest speakers. They will work on researching and reporting assignments related to documentary productions and print stories for different outlets. "Sources," people with informtion critical to developing a story, need to be developed. The responsibilites of a reporter engaged in developing sourses will be a constant theme of the seminar. Investigative Reporting for TV and Print: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
Study of techniques, practices, and methods of gathering and writing radio news. Students will produce weekly live radio news programs. Enrollment is limited to 15. Radio News Reporting: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020
Assigned stories are part of life as a professional journalist. This course teaches students how to be creative, resourceful and rigorous in pursuing a wide range of stories, of the sort students could be expected to do as public radio journalists. Students in this class will report early and often, building on their existing audio journalism skills and honing their ability tell mid-length (5-12 minute) audio journalism stories well. Guest-speakers will include award-winning audio journalists and editors, who will share tips for making audio stories memorable and impactful.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Study of the history and institutions of broadcast journalism (nine weeks), practice, techniques of reporting news for radio and television. Introduction to Visual Journalism: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-4 hours of lecture per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Producing, directing, writing, and videotaping of live weekly television news program. Reporting for Television: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 282 and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 24 hours of fieldwork per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
This course covers the evolution of American documentary film from 1920 to the present, with special attention to independent productions and documentaries for network television. In the works of Fred Wiseman, Henry Hampton, Lourdes Portillo, Errol Morris, Marlon Riggs, Barbara Kopple, Orlando Bagwell, the Maysles, and the network staff producers, we look at the practical problems of making documentaries for a mass audience. (Required for J-School students who are considering specializing in documentary.) History of Documentary: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2011, Fall 2009
It can take a lifetime of writing to learn how to critique and revise your work. Hard as writing can be, rewriting -- breaking back into your own framework, rethinking, re-imagining, and revising -- can be harder yet. Sometimes only an editor can help you gain the distance needed to view your work. No matter how good a journalist you may be, an editor can help you reach another stage in your writing process. Editing Workshop: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Journalism students only; priority to second-year students completing master's project
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 2-3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Spring 2019
Group meetings plus individual tutorials. Methods of research, organization, and preparation of professional thesis projects. Required of M.J. candidates working on thesis projects during both Fall and Spring semesters. Master's Project Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 200 and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 2-4 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 1.5-3 hours of seminar per week
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Supervised experience in the practice of journalism in off-campus organizations. Individual meeting with faculty sponsor and written reports required. See Additional Information, "Field Study and Internships." Field Study in Journalism: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of fieldwork per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 1-2 hours of fieldwork per week 8 weeks - 1-2 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Journalism/Graduate
Grading: Offered for satisfactory/unsatisfactory grade only.
Terms offered: Fall 2020, Fall 2019, Fall 2018
Individual preparation or study in consultation with faculty adviser. Study ultimately leads to the completion of the Master's Project/Examination. Units may not be used to meet either unit or residence requirements for a master's degree. Individual Study for Master's Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Course is restricted to journalism students
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with advisor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-8 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-20 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 1.5-15 hours of independent study per week
+ Indicates this faculty member is the recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.
Faculty
Geeta Anand, Acting Professor. Investigative reporting, narrative non-fiction, healthcare, international reporting.
David Barstow, Professor. Reva and David Logan Distinguished Chair of Investigative Journalism.
Lowell Bergman, Professor Emeritus. National security, forensic science, terrorism, corporate crime, corruption, tobacco, Symposium in Investigative Reporting. Research Profile
Andres Cediel, Professor. Immigration, documentary film, video, human rights, climate change, forensic science.
Lydia Chavez, Professor Emeritus. Jounalism, reporting, writing. Research Profile
Elena Conis, Associate Professor. Science, health, environment, public health, medicine, history.
Mark D. Danner, Professor. Central America, politics, Balkans, foreign affairs, journalism, Haiti, documentaries. Research Profile
William J. Drummond, Professor. Politics, journalism, reporting, national security, freelancing in both print and radio. Research Profile
Richard Hernandez, Assistant Professor. Journalism, new media, Mobile, visual storytelling. Research Profile
Ken Light, Adjunct Professor. Journalism, photojournalism, documentary photography. Research Profile
Michael Pollan, Professor. Agriculture, environment, obesity, science, nutrition, journalism, food, cooking, gardening. Research Profile
Edward Wasserman, Professor. Media ethics, economics and politics of news, professional standards, media history. Research Profile
Lecturers
Thomas R. Burke, Lecturer.
Marilyn M. Chase, Lecturer.
Deirdre English, Lecturer.
Adam Hochschild, Lecturer.
Jennifer Kahn, Lecturer.
Carrie Lozano, Lecturer.
Thomas Peele, Lecturer.
Kara A. Platoni, Lecturer.
Jeremy Rue, Lecturer.
Zachary J. Stauffer, Lecturer.
Abbie Vansickle, Lecturer.
James R. Wheaton, Lecturer.
Samantha G. Wiesler, Lecturer.
Emeritus Faculty
Joan Bieder, Senior Lecturer SOE Emeritus. History of Jewish communities in South East Asia. Research Profile
Robert Calo, Professor Emeritus. Journalism, cultural geography, social history, urban affairs, television news production. Research Profile
Jon Else, Professor Emeritus. Directing, history, film, journalism, writing, documentary, producing, cinematography, nuclear weapons. Research Profile
Timothy Ferris, Professor Emeritus.
Tom Goldstein, Professor Emeritus. Journalism, mass communications, writer, reporter, editor. Research Profile
Cynthia Gorney, Professor Emeritus. Ethics, law, journalism, writing, reporting the news, profiles. Research Profile
Neil Henry, Professor Emeritus. Race, Africa, urban society, journalism, newspapers, community reporting, journalistic values, foreign reporting, sports, fraud. Research Profile
Thomas C. Leonard, Professor Emeritus. Journalism, the press, role of the press in society, journalists and historians, Americans, American history. Research Profile
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