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The MA in Journalism Program at DePaul prepares graduates for careers as multimedia news producers and visual storytellers in journalism's new digital landscape. Our graduates are now content producers at more than 400 sites in the webbed universe. Concentrations in: Multimedia Reporting; Reporting Metro Chicago; Sports Journalism; and Data Journalism helped establish their brands as socially responsible reporters, editors, and producers.

DePaul's program brings Chicago into the classroom and moves the classroom out into the third largest media market in the country. Internships and experiential learning opportunities enable students to develop the networks and e-portfolios that advance their careers. Our award-winning team of journalism professionals partners with students in producing first-rate news stories across platforms, aided by DePaul's downtown Media Center and Green Screen Studio.​

Program Requirements Quarter Hours
Degree Requirements 48
Total hours required 48

Learning Outcomes

​Students will be able to:

  • Explain and evaluate the social responsibility of journalists to serve citizens with news worth knowing.
  • Use digital story-telling techniques to be competitive in the new journalism marketplace.
  • Experiment in how to best handle and present the news of the day..

Degree Requirements

Course Requirements

The Master of Arts in Journalism requires 12 courses (48-credit hours) — three core courses, a minimum of six elective courses in Journalism, and a maximum of three outside electives.

Core Courses

Students are required to take all of the following:

Course Title Quarter Hours
JOUR 501THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF JOURNALISM4
JOUR 502NEWS NOW: JOURNALISM IN THE INFORMATION AGE4
JOUR 503REPORTING FOR CONVERGED NEWSROOMS4
Combined degree students who took JOUR 280 during their undergraduate program can substitute any of the following courses for JOUR 503:
MULTIMEDIA NEWS PRODUCTION
TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING
NEWSCAST PRODUCING
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
SPORTS PRODUCING
MULTI-PLATFORM NEWS EDITING
SOUND AND VISION

Journalism Electives 

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select a minimum of six courses from the following list: 124
MULTIMEDIA NEWS PRODUCTION
TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING
NEWSCAST PRODUCING
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
JOURNALISM LAW AND ETHICS
SPORTS REPORTING
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING
BUSINESS WRITING AND REPORTING
POLITICAL REPORTING
OPINION AND COLUMN WRITING
SPECIAL TOPICS IN JOURNALISM
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN JOURNALISM
WRITING AND REPORTING
INTERNATIONAL REPORTING
DATA JOURNALISM
SPORTS PRODUCING
MULTI-PLATFORM NEWS EDITING
ONLINE SPORTS REPORTING
WRITING FOR THE DEPAULIA
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTING
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
LIFESTYLE REPORTING
REPORTING FOR GOOD DAY DEPAUL
ONLINE NEWS BUREAU
RADIO NEWS
JOURNALISM BY NUMBERS
THE PRESS AND THE PRESIDENCY
JOURNALISM & FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
TOPICS IN PHOTOJOURNALISM
RADIO DEPAUL
SPORTS BLOGGING
FROM FRANKLIN TO THE INTERNET: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM
MASS COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
CURRENT ISSUES IN THE JOURNALISM INDUSTRY
THE INTERNET, TECHNOLOGY, AND POLITICS
MASS MEDIA & AMERICAN POLITICS
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE NEWS
LONG FORM REPORTING
ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM
PHOTOJOURNALISM FOR STUDENT MEDIA
ADVANCED GRADUATE REPORTING FOR GOOD DAY DePAUL
ADVANCED REPORTING I
ADVANCED REPORTING II
SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING I
SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING II
SOUND AND VISION
REPORTING FOR 14 EAST MAGAZINE
JOURNALISM WORKSHOP
JOURNALISM STUDY AWAY/ABROAD
VOICE AND DICTION:FOR BROADCAST AND COMMUNICATION
INTERNSHIP
INDEPENDENT STUDY
RESEARCH PRACTICUM
STUDY ABROAD
1

Students who wish to earn one of the three concentrations should see "Concentration Requirements" page to help guide their elective course choices.

Outside Electives

With approval from the graduate program director, students can take up to three relevant elective courses from other Communication graduate programs, or relevant graduate elective courses from outside of Communication. 

Optional Latino Media & Communication Concentration

The graduate concentration in Latino Media & Communication is comprised of at least three graduate courses drawn from the areas of advertising, journalism, media and cinema studies, multicultural communication, organizational communication and public relations. Graduate students in any of the College of Communication Master of Arts programs can elect to complete the Latino Media & Communication concentration. Students may need to use outside electives to complete this concentration.

Students who complete the concentration will:

  • Develop an understanding of the heterogeneous and rapidly changing Latino communities locally, nationally and globally
  • Ground their knowledge of intercultural studies within a more extensive and concrete knowledge of a particular (even though diverse), rapidly growing, and increasingly important population within the U.S.
  • Increase their cross-cultural competence (understanding and ability to dialogue across difference, develop cultural sensitivity and awareness) with Latino communities
  • Enhance their capacity to communicate with and learn from Latino populations in the workplace, in community situations and other sites of engagement
  • Recognize the impact of the movement of Latinos across the globe and develop the skills to critically consume and produce media, public relations and advertisement representations that communicate to and about Latino communities
  • Develop field-specific knowledge of Latino media and communication along with an understanding of how Latino studies shapes other fields of communication

Courses

Students are required to take three courses (12 credits) from the following list:

Course Title Quarter Hours
SPECIAL TOPICS IN MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION 1
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE
SPECIAL TOPICS IN JOURNALISM 1
TOPICS IN CINEMA STUDIES 1
LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA/MEDIA
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
ENGAGING LATINX COMMUNITIES
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING 1
SPECIAL TOPICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS & ADVERTISING 1
INTERNSHIP 1
STUDY ABROAD 1
1

Topic must be related to Latino Media and Communication.

Grade Requirements

All students are required to maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.000 in their coursework. If a student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.000, the student will be allowed to complete an additional 16 credits or 3 quarters (whichever comes first) to attain the 3.000 minimum GPA. If the cumulative GPA remains below a 3.000 at the conclusion of this time period, the student may be dismissed from the program. The student's cumulative and term GPAs along with overall academic performance will be factored into the dismissal decision.

Concentration Requirements

Students pursuing a graduate Journalism degree can select specific elective classes to earn a concentration.