MS in Journalism

More than ever, the world needs fearless, fact-driven news reporting that enlightens while it engages, and informs instead of incites. Will you answer the call?

No GRE Required.

The Boston University Master of Science in Journalism prepares students to excel as master storytellers, with an emphasis on narrative writing and digital and visual journalism across platforms. Over three semesters, you’ll learn to analyze and explain complex events, across multiple media, while upholding top journalism standards.

First-semester classes prepare you to work across platforms in a professional newsroom. Classwork focuses on law, ethics, techniques of journalism, and introduction to digital media with an emphasis on reporting, news judgment, writing, and visual skills.

Then, you’ll sample from courses that offer specialized training in investigations, data-driven journalism, photojournalism, and more. A faculty adviser assists students to tailor individual programs from the many courses available in journalism and across the University.

Finally, under the direction of a senior faculty member, you’ll produce a professional-quality final Master’s Project to showcase their skills and interests.

Hands-On Learning

Journalism is a field best mastered by doing while studying -- and Boston University offers a wide range of experiential opportunities. Students power COM-sponsored newsrooms such as the BU News Service, WTBU radio, and BUTV10 television, as well as the award-winning independent Daily Free Press newspaper.

Many students take advantage of BU’s proximity to the state capitol to report on politics and legislation as part of COM’s Statehouse Program. Others head south and spend a semester in the nation’s capital for the University’s Washington DC Multimedia & Journalism Program.

Students may collaborate with students at other universities on joint investigations, or work with students in other degree programs as part of the interdisciplinary COM Lab. Campus chapters of national news associations, such as the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Photographers Association, also are active at Boston University.

COM works with students to land top internships and job placements, too, leveraging media relationships with fellowship programs and local newsrooms in Boston and across the country -- such as paid fellowships with WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, and the Program on Global Health Storytelling, co-sponsored by the Pulitzer Center in Washington.

Professors, Still Reporters

COM’s journalism professors and lecturers practice what they teach.

Faculty are highly experienced, well-connected professionals in the field who give students an insider’s take. They write bestsellers, produce documentaries, take Pulitzer Prize-winning photos, conduct investigations, and create content of all kinds. They come from print, television, radio, and online-first newsrooms.

Moreover, graduate students are treated as emerging colleagues by professors who believe in learning by doing and are committed to preparing them for the promising careers ahead.

Purpose Driven

COM stands out from our peers. Our faculty offers a mix of researchers and practitioners who endorse a cross-discipline, hands-on approach to learning. Our location lies at the heart of an electric, media-savvy city.

But it may be COM’s shared values that matter most. We believe that communication requires diversity, critical thinking, and creative expression. We believe that communication must be grounded in truth, authenticity, effectiveness, and purpose. We believe that communication builds understanding among people and across society.

Communicate for understanding

Do you love films and television? Social media? News? Telling stories? Changing minds—and maybe history? Boston University College of Communication (COM) is for you.

We’ve been educating professional communicators since we offered the world’s first degree in public relations in 1947 and the first master’s and Ph.D. degrees in emerging media studies in 2015. Today, our alumni occupy the highest levels in a multitude of fields. Tomorrow? We’re training the next generation of leaders in advertising, emerging media, film, and television, journalism, media science, and public relations.

We do this because COM students, faculty, and alumni share a simple but powerful belief: communication builds understanding — among people and throughout society.

Storytelling Skills for Career Success

If you’re a student here, you’ll gain the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to turn your love of communication and storytelling into a successful career. You’ll gain a deep understanding of the many forms of media. You’ll become proficient in writing, speaking, visual communication, and digital media skills. All combined with a solid grounding in the liberal arts hone your mind and free your imagination. And you will gain practical, real-world, hands-on experience outside the classroom through our extensive internship programs and COM activities such as AdLab, PRLab, PRSSA, WTBU, BUTV10, BU News Service, Hothouse Productions, and the Daily Free Press.

Yes, our faculty teach — but also they also do. They include best-selling authors and Pulitzer-winning journalists. Others are internationally recognized thinkers and researchers in the fields of emerging media, technology, and misinformation. And others have written and directed movies and series for every major broadcast network and HBO, as well as for films and documentaries screened at film festivals around the world.

COM alumni have won numerous prizes, awards, and citations from Pulitzer to Emmy to Clio. Among them are CEOs, Hollywood directors and screenwriters, stars in television and radio, and White House staffers. In fact, our graduates sit at the top of major companies in all areas of communication. They include Bonnie Hammer, vice chairman at NBCUniversal; David Lubars, chairman/chief creative officer of BBDO; Nancy Dubuc, CEO of VICE; and Kevin Merida, executive editor of the Los Angeles Times. In all, COM has more than 30,000 alumni worldwide with far-reaching connections in every area of communication and beyond.

Our Mission

We build understanding through communication education, practice, and discovery.

We prepare students to lead, adapt, and share their voices in a transformational media world.

We generate knowledge through research and theory-building.

We integrate professional and academic experiences across communication disciplines.

We nurture a culture rich in diversity, critical thinking, and creative expression.

We champion communication grounded in truth, authenticity, effectiveness, and purpose.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

The College of Communication Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee exists to elevate and ensure a culture of inclusion in which all members of our community are valued and respected. We strive to create an inclusive and equitable environment that recruits, supports, and retains a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff. We celebrate the diversity of identity, culture, perspective, and expression in our community. As professional communicators, we have a responsibility to:

Foster an environment that cultivates diverse storytellers, Promote the value of research and telling stories in academia and the various fields of professional communication that emphasize diversity, equity, and inclusion, and; Inform, enlighten, and prepare the next generation of communicators to thrive in a diverse and inclusive world.