CLICK HERE FOR SPANISH VERSION
APPLY NOW Deadline: Jan. 31, 2017
With the Hispanic population in the United States growing in political weight and cultural influence, its media has an increasingly important role to play. Big news corporations are launching global initiatives to capture Spanish-language audiences everywhere. In a time of tremendous change for the industry, the need to offer a new kind of training program for bilingual journalists with a specific focus on these coveted audiences is bigger than ever.
The new Spanish-language concentration at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is a unique initiative to train bilingual master’s degree students interested in covering Hispanic communities in the U.S. or abroad. It aims to prepare new generations of journalists to thrive in a changing media ecosystem and to come up with new ideas about what the future of the Hispanic media should look like.
This concentration benefits from all the CUNY J-School has to offer — the quality of its professors and guest speakers, its constantly changing curriculum, its combination of traditional and multimedia journalism training, and its startup spirit. Plus, it offers the added advantage of bilingual instruction.
Students take required first- and second-semester journalism fundamentals classes and three new subject courses in Spanish: the Hispanic media landscape, covering Hispanic communities in the U.S., and investigative journalism. All assignments for these classes are produced in Spanish. They also take English-language courses with the rest of the M.A. in Journalism cohort.
Students in the concentration do a required summer internship at a Spanish-language or a Latino-focused English-language news outlet in the U.S. or abroad. They participate in seminars with Spanish media leaders from around the world and make in-person visits to leading Hispanic-market newsrooms in New York City.
The director of the Spanish-language concentration is Graciela Mochkofsky, an award-winning journalist, author, and teacher.
The CUNY J-School has partnered in this initiative with leading Hispanic media organizations, including the Spanish newspaper El País; La Nación, the Argentine media company which, through ImpreMedia, owns El Diario/La Prensa in New York, La Raza in Chicago, and La Opinión in Los Angeles; Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish-government funded organization that offers extensive Spanish-language instruction; Univision News, the award-winning news division of Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America; and The Guardian.
Click here to see the Spanish-language program’s Advisory Council.
APPLY NOW Deadline: Jan. 31, 2017
FAQs
What are the requirements to apply?
Applicants need to be fluent in English and Spanish.
They must have a bachelor’s degree by the time they enroll in our program, from a regionally accredited institution comparable in standard and content to a bachelor’s degree from a CUNY college.
CUNY requires all international students to pass the TOEFL or IELTS language tests.
Can I choose the Spanish-language concentration after I have been admitted to the M.A. in Journalism?
You need to apply directly to the Spanish-language concentration to secure a spot in it.
Will all classes be in Spanish?
There will be classes both in Spanish and English. Students will take five courses in Spanish, including the main Craft of Journalism courses (first and second semester), and courses on the Hispanic media landscape, covering Hispanic communities in the U.S., and investigative journalism.
This is what the curriculum will look like:
Semester I (all required courses)
Craft of Journalism I (6 credits) IN SPANISH
Legal and Ethical Issues
Fundamentals of Multimedia Storytelling: Radio & TV (3 credits)
Fundamentals of Multimedia Storytelling: Interactive Journalism (3 credits)
Semester 2
Craft of Journalism II or Craft II – Broadcast (6 credits) (required) IN SPANISH
One course in student’s subject concentration IN SPANISH
Two electives, including media courses
Summer
Summer Internship AT A SPANISH-LANGUAGE NEWS OUTLET
Semester 3
Two courses in student’s subject concentration IN SPANISH
Two electives, including media courses
Can I apply if am not equally fluent in Spanish and English?
Students need to be fluent in both languages. Their knowledge of the languages must be enough to attend classes, conduct interviews, and write in them. Fluency in Spanish is particularly important. However, we understand that one of the languages might be weaker, and we will offer language coaching. A coach will work with the students who require support, either in Spanish or English.
How long is the program?
It is the same duration as the regular M.A. in Journalism: three semesters, or 16 months.
Do I get to take advantage of other courses the J-School offers?
Yes. The students who choose this concentration will take courses in English, both required and electives, and will be part of the larger class of M.A. in Journalism students.
Will I be required to do a summer internship?
Yes. Students in the concentration do a required summer internship at a Spanish-language or a Latino-focused English-language news outlet in the U.S. or abroad. This allows them to acquire on-the-job real experience. All students participate in a three-credit internship at a real-world media outlet during the summer between the second and third semesters. The program is run by the Director of Career Services under the supervision of the Dean. What makes this internship program unique is that we guarantee all students will receive a minimum of $3,000 for the summer. If the media employer doesn’t pay, we do.
Students intern for 8 to 10 weeks at a variety of outlets, including online media, community newspapers, major dailies, consumer magazines, trade publications, newsletters, cable TV stations (including CUNY-TV), radio and TV broadcast stations, and broadcast networks.
Do I need to move to New York?
Yes.
What are the costs of the program?
You can find that information here.
Can I apply for financial aid?
All admitted students are automatically reviewed for financial aid. However, we strongly recommend that you find out about available funding opportunities elsewhere, in particular if you will need to move to New York City.
How do I apply to the Spanish-language concentration?
You can apply by clicking here for more information.
Do you have a question about the application process that we haven’t addressed?
Please click here.