College of Communication > Academics > Journalism > Graduate Program > Journalism (MA) > Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements

Degree Requirements

Course Requirements

The Master of Arts in Journalism requires 12 courses (48 credit hours) — four required core courses, four concentration courses, and four elective courses in Journalism. With approval from the graduate program director, students can take up to two relevant elective courses from other Communication graduate programs, or relevant graduate elective courses from outside of Communication.  

Core Courses

Students are required to take all of the following:

Course Title Quarter Hours
JOUR 500REPORTING BOOTCAMP4
JOUR 501ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN JOURNALISM4
JOUR 503MULTIMEDIA REPORTING4
JOUR 596NEWS NOW: JOURNALISM MA CAPSTONE4
Students who took JOUR 275 & JOUR 278 during their undergraduate program may substitute any of the following courses for JOUR 500:
JOUR 510SPORTS REPORTING4
JOUR 511ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING4
JOUR 512BUSINESS WRITING AND REPORTING4
JOUR 513POLITICAL REPORTING4
JOUR 519INTERNATIONAL REPORTING4
JOUR 524REPORTING FOR THE DEPAULIA4
JOUR 527LIFESTYLE REPORTING4
JOUR 533INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING4
JOUR 588REPORTING FOR 14 EAST MAGAZINE4
Students who took JOUR 280 during their undergraduate program may substitute any of the following courses for JOUR 503:
JOUR 504ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM4
JOUR 505TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING4
JOUR 506NEWSCAST PRODUCING4
JOUR 507VISUAL COMMUNICATION4
JOUR 521SPORTS PRODUCING4
JOUR 522MULTIPLATFORM NEWS EDITING4
JOUR 542SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE NEWS4
JOUR 587SOUND AND VISION4

Journalism Concentrations (4 required courses)

Journalism Electives (4 required courses)

Course Title Quarter Hours
Select a minimum of four courses from the following list:16
JOUR 504
ADVANCED MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM
JOUR 505
TELEVISION NEWS REPORTING
JOUR 506
NEWSCAST PRODUCING
JOUR 507
VISUAL COMMUNICATION
JOUR 509
JOURNALISM LAW AND ETHICS
JOUR 510
SPORTS REPORTING
JOUR 511
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING
JOUR 512
BUSINESS WRITING AND REPORTING
JOUR 513
POLITICAL REPORTING
JOUR 514
OPINION AND COLUMN WRITING
JOUR 515
SPECIAL TOPICS IN JOURNALISM
JOUR 517
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN JOURNALISM
JOUR 519
INTERNATIONAL REPORTING
JOUR 520
DATA JOURNALISM
JOUR 521
SPORTS PRODUCING
JOUR 522
MULTIPLATFORM NEWS EDITING
JOUR 523
MULTIMEDIA SPORTS REPORTING
JOUR 524
REPORTING FOR THE DEPAULIA
JOUR 525
URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTING
JOUR 526
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION
JOUR 527
LIFESTYLE REPORTING
JOUR 528
REPORTING FOR GOOD DAY DEPAUL
JOUR 529
ONLINE NEWSROOM
JOUR 530
AUDIO REPORTING & STORYTELLING
JOUR 531
JOURNALISM BY NUMBERS
JOUR 533
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
JOUR 534
TOPICS IN PHOTOJOURNALISM
JOUR 535
RADIO DEPAUL
JOUR 536
FREELANCE JOURNALISM
JOUR 540
THE INTERNET, TECHNOLOGY, AND POLITICS
JOUR 541
MASS MEDIA & AMERICAN POLITICS
JOUR 542
SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE NEWS
JOUR 543
LONG FORM REPORTING
JOUR 544
ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM
JOUR 546
PHOTOJOURNALISM FOR STUDENT MEDIA
JOUR 548
ADVANCED GRADUATE REPORTING FOR GOOD DAY DePAUL
JOUR 551
ADVANCED REPORTING I
JOUR 552
ADVANCED REPORTING II
JOUR 553
SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING I
JOUR 554
SOCIAL JUSTICE REPORTING II
JOUR 587
SOUND AND VISION
JOUR 588
REPORTING FOR 14 EAST MAGAZINE
JOUR 590
JOURNALISM WORKSHOP
JOUR 598
NEW YORK JOURNALISM

Outside Electives

With approval from the graduate program director, students can apply up to two relevant elective courses from other Communication graduate programs, or relevant graduate elective courses from outside of Communication toward their Journalism electives.

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
CMNS 509
SPECIAL TOPICS IN MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION 1
CMNS 542
MULTICULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN THE WORKPLACE
JOUR 515
SPECIAL TOPICS IN JOURNALISM 1
MPOP 521
TOPICS IN CINEMA STUDIES 1
MPOP 533
LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA/MEDIA
PRAD 511
CONSUMER INSIGHTS
PRAD 512
ENGAGING LATINX COMMUNITIES
PRAD 514
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PUBLIC RELATIONS AND ADVERTISING 1
PRAD 595
SPECIAL TOPICS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS & ADVERTISING 1
CMN 591
INTERNSHIP 1
CMN 598
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.

Content displayed from this DePaul University catalog page.

​​ ​​

Concentrations

The Journalism MA program offers four concentrations:

Accountability Journalism
Data Journalism
Multimedia Journalism
Sports Journalism

​​