Journalism Grad Programs

[ValentineGirl]

I'm thinking of returning to school to get a masters degree in Journalism. Not anytime soon, later on down the road. Does anyone know of any programs that are good, but not super hard to get into. I've done some research and I know Medill, Columbia, OU, and Missouri are the top ones, but what are the mid range ones that are decent but not so top notch?

[capella]

I don't know why you would need a master's degree in journalism. It seems to me that would be a massive waste of money since experience is the key in journalism... not the degree. What are your goals? What is your bachelor's in? What are you looking to do with that degree?

[wordsmith]

Brillo25 has a master's in journalism. He went to University of Illinois, I think.

I'm working as a journalist currently, and my BA is in English. I probably would not get a master's in journalism unless it were coming to me free of charge, for some reason. Newspaper work doesn't pay well enough to justify continued educational debt, for me.

[crystal_dance]

A good friend of mine went to USC's Annenberg School of Communication to get a masters in broadcast journalism but switched to print after a semester. Now she is a business journalist working for Reuters at their New York desk.

[arrow]

I think the idea behind some of those expensive, top-tier journalism masters programs is that they allow you to make connections with alumni and staff who are connected with some of the high-profile, high-paying positions around the country. I'd talk to grads of those programs, though, to see how it worked out for them. Yeah, newspaper work pays crap but there are a handful of jobs out there that pay stupid money. Just yesterday I found out that many of the name NPR correspondents get paid around 300K per year, and they work for Public Radio!! :eek: I wonder what their degrees are.

[ValentineGirl]

My bachelors degree is in Psychology and I just recently finished up a 10 month program at a vocational broadcasting school in radio and television. It was great training for the basics of radio, but it was horrible for television and I would really like more training.

[wordsmith]

I think the idea behind some of those expensive, top-tier journalism masters programs is that they allow you to make connections with alumni and staff who are connected with some of the high-profile, high-paying positions around the country. I'd talk to grads of those programs, though, to see how it worked out for them. Yeah, newspaper work pays crap but there are a handful of jobs out there that pay stupid money. Just yesterday I found out that many of the name NPR correspondents get paid around 300K per year, and they work for Public Radio!! :eek: I wonder what their degrees are.

Then there's my late staff historian at my tiny community weekly who passed away last year in her nineties, who got her degree from Medill in the 1930s, when there were few women there, and never did anything more than become a staff historian at her hometown paper.

[playingbyheart]

I'm thinking of returning to school to get a masters degree in Journalism. Not anytime soon, later on down the road. Does anyone know of any programs that are good, but not super hard to get into. I've done some research and I know Medill, Columbia, OU, and Missouri are the top ones, but what are the mid range ones that are decent but not so top notch?

I work for a magazine as an editorial assistant and was hired without a J-school graduate degree. My undergrad degree was in another field (theater) but I did take the time to intern at a newspaper for basically no pay after college. Honestly, I think you'd be better off saving the cost of a grad school degree and just investing in a solid year or even a few months of internship experience at a daily paper. Some require you to be a student at the time of the internship -- if that's the case, see if you can sign up for community college credits and then apply.

Now that I've been working for approx a year in journalism, I am considering applying to J School. But before I spent a year working in journalism, I know I wouldn't have gotten what I needed to get out of it - because I wouldn't know what I need to work on. (Does that make sense?)

If you're going to go to J-School, you should go to one of the "top schools." Unless you just feel completely lost in journalism and can't pick it up by taking a few classes or reading a newspaper.

Broadcast and New Media journalism are another beast which may require more technical training. But for good old print, you're probably better off with unpaid experience over a degree.

[ValentineGirl]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I needed to bounce an idea off you guys. I've been researching grad journalism programs and I've found an online program for an M.A. in Jourmalism through the University of Memphis. This is good for me because I really like my little life in Cincinnati and really don't want to move. I was thinking I could do that and intern and also still work a regular job. But, will a degree earned online be taken seriously when I go to get a job? Does anyone know anything about this program?

[awhitmer83]

I can't really speak about journalism, but I did my MSW almost completely online. There is a world of difference between a degree from an online diploma mill (like Phoenix University) and an online program from a respected school. My transcript and diploma do not in any way reflect that it was an online program, so it's never been an issue. HTH!

[winneythepooh7]

I can't really speak about journalism, but I did my MSW almost completely online. There is a world of difference between a degree from an online diploma mill (like Phoenix University) and an online program from a respected school. My transcript and diploma do not in any way reflect that it was an online program, so it's never been an issue. HTH!

Can you explain how the online MSW program worked? Did you still have to do a field placement and all that? If you want, feel free to start another thread so we don't jack this one!

[Kitty]

I can't really speak about journalism, but I did my MSW almost completely online. There is a world of difference between a degree from an online diploma mill (like Phoenix University) and an online program from a respected school. My transcript and diploma do not in any way reflect that it was an online program, so it's never been an issue. HTH!

Yup. Agree. YOu just need to get your online degree from a brick and mortar school and you should be fine. It won't be on your diploma or anywhere else, so no one would ever have to know. A lot of very reputable schools have online programs including Carnegie Melon, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc.

[awhitmer83]

Can you explain how the online MSW program worked? Did you still have to do a field placement and all that? If you want, feel free to start another thread so we don't jack this one!

I'm starting a new thread now.