A groundbreaking new graduate degree is opening applications today at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The King’s Master of Journalism is the first degree of its kind in Canada to specialize in multimedia digital reporting, investigative and entrepreneurial journalism.
This degree is offered jointly by the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University. It is a 10-month program that offers two streams: investigative reporting and new ventures. It’s designed specifically for students who already possess a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
In order to design a program that realistically met the needs of prospective students, King’s Director of Journalism Kelly Toughill consulted with King’s journalism graduates and industry leaders. The resulting degree is designed to help journalists who want to remain relevant in a changing media environment.
With the rise of digital technologies and the collapse of old business models, modern journalism demands new forms of storytelling, new investigative techniques and new types of news organizations. Journalists of the future are more likely to be self-employed, and some will become full-fledged journalism entrepreneurs, while those who work at established media organizations will need higher level reporting skills to stand out.
The program will offer two streams of study. The New Ventures stream will focus on media entrepreneurship, teaching students how to strengthen their freelancing skills or develop new ventures in journalism. Delivered partly in tandem with Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management, the program will conclude with a major project, in which students present a viability study or a full business plan for a new venture.
The Investigative stream has been crafted to help students expand their investigative skills, and will feature a number of new deep-research methods such as data scraping and data visualization techniques. Studies will culminate in a professional investigative project, guided by an expert in the field.
“This degree is designed for students who know how to research, write and think like journalists, but who want to take their craft to the next level,” said Toughill. “We believe this degree will help create the next generation of leaders in journalism.”
For more information, go to the program page. You can also follow program updates on Twitter by following @kingsjournalism.
To apply to the program, please click here.
