The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's
Morningside Heights campus in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
Founded in 1912 by
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the '' St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...
, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism schools in the world and the only journalism school in the
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...
. It offers four graduate degree programs.
The school shares facilities with the
Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...
. It directly administers several other prizes, including the
Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award
The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...
, honoring excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service. It co-sponsors the
National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
, also known as the Ellie Awards, and publishes the ''
Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...
''.
In addition to offering professional development programs, fellowships and workshops, the school is home to the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, and the
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma is a resource center and think tank for journalists who cover violence, conflict and tragedy around the world. A project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, the Dart C ...
.
Admission to the school is highly selective and has traditionally drawn a very international student body. A Board of Visitors meets periodically to advise the dean's office and support the school's initiatives.
History
Pulitzer School of Journalism
In 1892, Joseph Pulitzer, a Hungarian-born newspaper magnate, offered Columbia University President
Seth Low
Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) was an American educator and political figure who served as the mayor of Brooklyn from 1881 to 1885, the president of Columbia University from 1890 to 1901, a diplomatic representative of t ...
funding to establish the world's first school of journalism. He sought to elevate a profession viewed more often as a common trade learned through an apprenticeship. His idea was for a center of enlightened journalism in pursuit of knowledge as well as skills in the service of democracy. "It will impart knowledge—not for its own sake, but to be used for the public service," Pulitzer wrote in a now landmark, lead essay of the May 1904 issue of the ''
North American Review
The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...
''.
The university was resistant to the idea. But Low's successor,
Nicholas Murray Butler
Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Ja ...
, was more receptive to the plan.
[James Boylan, ]
Pulitzer's School: Columbia University's School of Journalism
'. Columbia University Press (2003).
Pulitzer was set on creating his vision at Columbia and offered it a $2 million gift, one-quarter of which was to be used to establish prizes in journalism and the arts. It took years of negotiations and Pulitzer's death in October 1911 to finalize plans. On September 30, 1912, classes began with 79 undergraduate and postgraduate students, including a dozen women. Veteran journalist
Talcott Williams was installed as the school's director. When not attending classes and lectures, students scoured the city for news. Their more advanced classmates were assigned to cover a visit by U.S. President
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
, a sensational police murder trial and a women's suffrage march. A student from China went undercover to report on a downtown cocaine den. A journalism building was constructed the following year at Broadway and 116th Street on the western end of the campus. A statue of
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...
was installed in June 1914 as a symbol of “free inquiry” exemplified by the debates between him and fellow American founder and Columbia alumnus,
Alexander Hamilton, a statute of whom was unveiled directly across campus six years earlier.
First journalism graduate school
![Columbia J-School01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Columbia_J-School01.jpg)
In 1935, Dean
Carl Ackerman, a 1913 alumnus, led the school's transition to become the first graduate school of journalism in the United States. As the school's reach and reputation spread (due in part to an adjunct faculty of working New York journalists and a tenured full-time faculty that included Pulitzer winners
Douglas Southall Freeman
Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...
and
Henry F. Pringle and ''
Life Begins at Forty
''Life Begins at Forty'' is a 1932 American self-help book by Walter B. Pitkin. Written during a time of rapid increase in life expectancy (at the time of its publication American life expectancy at birth was around 60 and climbing fast, from be ...
'' author
Walter B. Pitkin), it began offering coursework in television news and documentary filmmaking in addition to its focus on newspapers and radio. The
Maria Moors Cabot Prizes
The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in the field of journalism. They are presented each fall by the Trustees of Columbia University to journalists in the Western hemisphere who are viewed as having made a significant co ...
, the oldest international awards in journalism, were founded in 1938, honoring reporting in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Awards for excellence in broadcast journalism moved to the school in 1968. In 1958, the Columbia Journalism Award, the school's highest honor, was established to recognize a person of overarching accomplishment and distinguished service to journalism. Three years later, the school began publishing the ''Columbia Journalism Review''.
![Columbia J-School00](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Columbia_J-School00.jpg)
After joining the tenured faculty in 1950, veteran
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
correspondent
John Hohenberg became the inaugural administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes in 1954, a secondary appointment that he would hold until 1976. Ackerman was succeeded as dean in 1954 by former
Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Assistant may refer to:
* Assistant (by Speaktoit), a virtual assistant app for smartphones
* Assistant (software), a software tool to assist in computer configuration
* Google Assistant
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software applica ...
Edward W. Barrett, who served until 1968. In 1966, the school began awarding the National Magazine Awards in association with the
American Society of Magazine Editors
The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is an industry trade group for magazine journalists and editors of magazines published in the United States. ASME includes the editorial leaders of most major consumer magazine in print and digital ...
. Former
CBS News president
Fred W. Friendly was appointed the same year to the tenured faculty and enhanced the broadcast journalism program alongside former
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...
correspondent
Elie Abel
Elie Abel (October 17, 1920 – July 22, 2004) was a Canadian- American journalist, author and academic.
Early life
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Abel received a Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University in 1941 and a Master of Science in journ ...
, who served as dean from 1970 to 1979. Abel was succeeded by former ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' editor and prominent New York socialite
Osborn Elliott
Osborn Elliott (October 25, 1924 – September 28, 2008) was the editor of ''Newsweek'' magazine for sixteen years between 1961 and 1976. Elliott is credited with transforming ''Newsweek'' from a staid publication into a modern rival of ''Time ...
(1979-1986), who in turn was succeeded by longtime
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...
collaborator
Joan Konner (1988-1996), the school's only female dean to date. By the 1970s, the Reporting and Writing 1 (RW1) course had become the cornerstone of the school's basic curriculum. The Knight‐Bagehot Fellowship was created in 1975 to enrich economics and business journalism. In 1985, the Delacorte Center for Magazine Journalism was founded. While serving as Pulitzer administrator, former ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' managing editor
Seymour Topping joined the tenured faculty in 1994.
![Columbia Admissions - 4876289625](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Columbia_Admissions_-_4876289625.jpg)
A doctoral program was established in 1998 by communications theorist
James W. Carey, who emerged as an "editor of and contributor to many scholarly publications at a time when Columbia was urging journalism professors to do more academic research." In 2005,
Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is an American writer and academic, the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has be ...
, two years into his tenure as dean, created a second more specialized master's program leading to a master of arts degree, prompting the hiring of political journalist
Thomas B. Edsall and music critic
David Hajdu
David Hajdu (; born March 1955) is an American columnist, author and professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was the music critic for ''The New Republic'' for 12 years and is music editor at ''The Nation''.
Biography
...
. As a result of industry changes forced by digital media, the school in 2013 erased distinctions between types of media, such as newspaper, broadcast, magazine and new media, as specializations in its master of science curriculum. The Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, dedicated to training select students interested in pursuing careers in investigative journalism, opened in 2006. A year later, the Spencer Fellowship was created to focus on long-form reporting. The
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma is a resource center and think tank for journalists who cover violence, conflict and tragedy around the world. A project of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, the Dart C ...
relocated to Columbia in 2009 to focus on media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy.
In 2010, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism was created. The
Brown Institute for Media Innovation was launched under the aegis of former
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial Research and development, research and scientific developm ...
statistician and data scientist
Mark Henry Hansen in 2012.
Academic programs
![Columbia J-School02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Columbia_J-School02.jpg)
The school's ten-month Master of Science (M.S.) program offers aspiring and experienced journalists the opportunity to study the skills, art and ethics of journalism by reporting and writing stories that range from short news pieces to complex narrative features. Some students interested in investigative reporting are selected to study at the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, a specialization of the M.S. program. Documentary and data journalism specialization programs are offered as well. The M.S. program is also offered on a part-time basis.
A year-long M.S. program in data journalism teaches the skills for finding, collecting and analyzing data for storytelling, presentation and investigative reporting.
The school offers several dual-degree programs in collaboration with other schools at Columbia: journalism and computer science, journalism and international affairs, journalism and law, journalism and business, and journalism and religion. The school also offers international dual-degree programs with
Sciences Po in
Paris, France
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and the
University of Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...
in
Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...
.
The smaller and more specialized, nine-month Master of Arts (M.A.) program is for experienced journalists interested in focusing on a particular subject area: politics, science, business and economics or arts and culture. M.A. students work closely with journalism professors and take courses in other academic departments and schools at the university. The program is full-time.
The doctoral program draws upon the resources of Columbia in a multidisciplinary approach to the study of communications. Ph.D. students craft individual courses of study to acquire deep knowledge in an area of concentration through research and coursework in disciplines ranging from history, sociology or religion to business or international affairs.
''The Bronx Beat''
''The Bronx Beat'', established in 1981 and published Mondays, is the weekly student publication of Columbia Journalism School. It serves readers in the South and Central Bronx and covers education, jobs and unemployment, health care, crime, mass transportation, religion and the arts. Students' stories are edited by colleagues, and by professional journalists from ''The New York Times'' and other New York dailies who line-edit copy and help with the paper's layout.
''Uptown Radio''
''Uptown Radio'' is a weekly news magazine and podcast modeled after NPR’s All Things Considered. It is produced by the students of the Radio Workshop, an advanced audio course at Columbia Journalism School. Uptown Radio is the school’s longest-running continuous webcast, broadcasting each Thursday at 4 P.M., from February through May, since 1996. Uptown Radio contains original feature reports as well as interviews and newscasts in service of the listeners in New York City and the world beyond.
Uptown Radio Podcast
/ref>
Journalism awards
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, the Columbia Journalism School also administers the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award
The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered ...
, the National Magazine Awards
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
, the Maria Moors Cabot Prize
The Maria Moors Cabot Prizes are the oldest international awards in the field of journalism. They are presented each fall by the Trustees of Columbia University to journalists in the Western hemisphere who are viewed as having made a significant co ...
s, John Chancellor
John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in TV news. He served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to 1982 and continu ...
Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Lukas Prizes, the Oakes Oakes may refer to:
* Oakes (surname)
* Oakes, Huddersfield, England
*Oakes, North Dakota, US
See also
* Oakes test, a legal analysis used in Canada to determine under what situations infringements on rights and freedoms are justifiable
** R. v. Oa ...
Prizes, the Meyer Berger Award, the Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma.
Accreditation
Columbia Journalism School is accredited by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is a major international membership organization for academics in the field, offering regional and national conferences and refereed publications. It has numerous membershi ...
.
Notable alumni
Faculty
* Daniel Alarcón
Daniel Alarcón (born March 5, 1977 in Lima, Peru) is a Peruvian-American novelist, journalist and radio producer. He is co-founder, host and executive producer of '' Radio Ambulante'', an award-winning Spanish language podcast distributed by NP ...
, assistant professor
* Emily Bell
Emily Jane Bell (born 14 September 1965) is a British academic and journalist. She is Professor of Professional Practice at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (Columbia School of Journalism) , Leonard Tow Professor of Professional Practice in Journalism
* Helen Benedict, professor
* Nina Berman, professor
* Walt Bogdanich
Walt Bogdanich (born October 10, 1950) is an American investigative journalist and three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize.
Life
Bogdanich graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975 with a degree in political science. He recei ...
, adjunct professor
* Jelani Cobb
William Jelani Cobb (born August 21, 1969)
''Contemporary Black Biography''. Gale, 2005, updated January 4, 2007. Vi ...
, Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism, Dean
* Steve Coll
Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic and executive.
He is currently the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he is also the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. A staff writer f ...
, Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism
* Sheila Coronel Sheila S. Coronel is a Philippines-born investigative journalist and journalism professor. She is one of the founders of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). In 2006, she was named the inaugural director of thStabile Center for ...
, Toni Stabile Professor of Professional Practice in Investigative Journalism
* John Dinges, Godfrey Lowell Cabot
Godfrey Lowell Cabot (February 26, 1861 – November 2, 1962) was an American industrialist who founded the Cabot Corporation.
Early life
Godfrey Lowell Cabot was born in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Boston Latin School. His father was S ...
Professor Emeritus of Journalism
* Thomas B. Edsall, adjunct professor (not active as of fall 2020)
* Samuel G. Freedman
Samuel G. Freedman is an American author and journalist and currently a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
He has authored six nonfiction books, including ''Who She Was: A Son's Search for His Mother's Life'', a ...
, professor
* Howard W. French, professor
* Keith Gessen, George T. Delacorte Assistant Professor of Magazine Journalism
* Ari L. Goldman, professor
* Sig Gissler
Sig Gissler is an American former professor of journalism at Columbia University and the former administrator of the Pulitzer Prize.
Biography
Sig Gissler was born in Chicago. He is a graduate of Lake Forest College and completed graduate work in ...
, adjunct professor; former administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes (not active as of fall 2020)
* Todd Gitlin
Todd Alan Gitlin (January 6, 1943 – February 5, 2022) was an American sociologist, political activist and writer, novelist, and cultural commentator. He wrote about the mass media, politics, intellectual life and the arts, for both popular an ...
, professor and chair, PhD program
* David Hajdu
David Hajdu (; born March 1955) is an American columnist, author and professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He was the music critic for ''The New Republic'' for 12 years and is music editor at ''The Nation''.
Biography
...
, professor
* LynNell Hancock, H. Gordon Garbedian Professor of Journalism
* Mark Henry Hansen, David and Helen Gurley Brown Professor of Journalism
* Richard R. John
Richard R. John, Jr. (born 1959) is an American historian who specializes in the history of business, technology, communications, and the state. He is a professor of history and communications at Columbia University.
Life and career
John was born ...
, professor
* Nicholas Lemann
Nicholas Berthelot Lemann is an American writer and academic, the Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Faculty of Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has be ...
, dean emeritus; Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism
* Dale Maharidge
Dale Maharidge (born 24 October 1956) is an American author, journalist and academic best known for his collaborations with photographer Michael Williamson.
Maharidge and Williamson's book '' And Their Children After Them'' won the Pulitzer Prize ...
, professor
* Sylvia Nasar, John S. and James L. Knight Professor Emerita of Business Journalism
* Victor Navasky
Victor Saul Navasky (born July 5, 1932) is an American journalist, editor and academic. He is publisher emeritus of ''The Nation'' and George T. Delacorte Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism at Columbia University. H ...
, George T. Delacorte, Jr. Professor Emeritus of Professional Practice in Magazine Journalism
* Charles Ornstein, adjunct associate professor
* Michael Schudson
Michael S. Schudson
Michael S. Schudson (born November 3, 1946) is professor of journalism in the graduate school of journalism of Columbia University and adjunct professor in the department of sociology. He is professor emeritus at the Univers ...
, professor
* Choire Sicha, adjunct assistant professor (not active as of fall 2020)
* James B. Stewart, Bloomberg Professor of Business Journalism
* Alexander Stille
Alexander Stille (born 1 January 1957 in New York City) is an American author and journalist. He is the son of Ugo Stille, a well-known Italian journalist and a former editor of Italy's Milan-based Corriere della Sera newspaper. Alexander Stille g ...
, San Paolo Professor of International Journalism
* Jonathan Weiner, Maxwell M. Geffen Professor of Medical and Scientific Journalism
References
Further reading
* Boylan, James. ''Pulitzer's School: Columbia University's School of Journalism, 1903-2003'' (2005).
External links
Columbia Journalism School website
''Columbia Journalism Review'' website
* Map:
{{authority control
Educational institutions established in 1912
Journalism schools in the United States
1912 establishments in New York City
Pulitzer family (newspapers)