Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication
Arizona State University
Arizona State University

The New Downtown Campus

rendering of new downtown building

In August 2008, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication will move to a state-of-the-art journalism education complex in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The move will give aspiring journalists and communication professionals unparalleled opportunities.

World-Class Journalism Building

Students will study and practice journalism in one of the nation's most sophisticated journalism education facilities. The Cronkite School will have more than 100,000 square feet in a new multi-use complex on the corner of Central Avenue and Taylor Street. The design includes a large forum for public events, five digital newsrooms, two new media laboratories, seven other computer labs, two TV studios and control rooms, dozens of digital editing bays, a 150-seat auditorium, four other fully mediated classrooms, seven conference rooms and a Student Services Center with a reading room and interviewing rooms for internship and job prospects.

Proximity to Major-Market Media Organizations

The school will be closer to major metropolitan news operations - newspaper, TV, radio and online - than any journalism school in the country. And that is critically important in a discipline where high-quality professional internships during college are essential for future success. The university-operated public television station, KAET/Channel 8, will be in the same complex. Just blocks away are The Arizona Republic, the nation's 15th largest daily newspaper, azcentral.com, KPNX-TV/Channel 12, the region's NBC affiliate, Fox10/KSAZ-TV, Fox Sports Net, CBS Radio, the Phoenix Business Journal and La Voz, a leading Spanish language newspaper. Other daily news operations are within a few miles.

Accessibility to Fieldwork

The core of our journalism curriculum is rigorous fieldwork-based assignments where students report, write, produce and edit real stories. Our new location will provide students extraordinary opportunities to cover major events, people and issues. City Hall, federal, state and local courthouses and government agencies, the Phoenix Bioscience Center, cultural venues such as the Herberger, Orpheum and Dodge Theaters, and sports arenas such as Chase Field (home of the Arizona Diamondbacks) and U.S. Airways Center (home of the Phoenix Suns) are all within walking distance.

Liberal Arts Coursework

All journalism courses will be taught in the new building, but the majority of students’ curriculum is outside of journalism in the liberal arts. Those courses will be easily accessible on the Downtown campus through University College. Cronkite students could complete their entire course of study on the Downtown campus. But they can also easily enroll in specialty classes - or take a second major - on the Tempe campus.

Residential Living

ASU will have university housing for about 1,800 students on the Downtown campus by 2008, eventually growing to 4,500.

Light Rail to Tempe Campus and the Rest of the Valley

A new light rail transportation system will be completed in 2008. A light rail station will be across from the Cronkite School, and will be able to get students to Tempe in about 20 minutes.