Cronkite School Launches Master of Science in Business Journalism

Arizona State University is launching a new Master of Science in Business Journalism, the country’s only online master’s degree in business journalism. The degree offers courses from two nationally recognized programs – the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the W. P. Carey School of Business. The first classes will be offered in fall 2017, and students can complete the degree in as few as 18 months.The new 30-credit, all-online program is designed with both reporters and corporate communication professionals in mind, said Kristin Gilger, executive director of the Cronkite School’s Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, which developed the degree.“Audiences today are more interested than ever in business, finance and the economy,” Gilger said. “This degree will give journalists and others the tools and knowledge they need to provide that information in deep and nuanced ways.”Students will learn the essentials of financial accounting, statistics, economics and organization theory and behavior as well as reporting on business and the economy, media law, data in business journalism and media entrepreneurship. The program is capped with an applied project that reflects the student’s particular area of interest. The degree is expected to attract students from a variety of backgrounds: aspiring business journalists, reporters already on the money beat who want to improve their understanding of finance and working journalists looking to improve their economic coverage of topics from sports to sustainability. The degree also will be of value to communications professionals in public relations, education or other public or private environments in which an understanding of business and economics and how to effectively communicate on those topics is essential. The program is open to students both in the U.S. and abroad. Instructors include renowned journalists and communicators such as Andrew Leckey, Reynolds Endowed Chair in Business Journalism and former syndicated investment columnist and CNBC anchor; Pulitzer Prize-winning data specialist Steve Doig, Cronkite’s Knight Chair in Journalism; and Retha Hill, a former vice president for BET Interactive who leads the Cronkite School’s New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab.More information about the new master’s degree is available at https://asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs/graduate/business-journalism-msAbout the Cronkite School: The Cronkite School at ASU is widely recognized as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs. The school’s 1,700 students regularly lead the country in national journalism competitions. They are guided by faculty comprised of award-winning professional journalists and world-class media scholars. The school has long offered a business specialization to its students and has trained more than 22,000 journalists and educators in business journalism through the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business Journalism.About the W. P. Carey School of Business: The Carey School at ASU  is one of the largest business schools in the United States with more than 14,000 students pursuing undergraduate, master’s and PhD degrees. It is one of the world’s top business schools, with various programs ranked Top 30 nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Among non-MBA business master’s programs, U.S. News ranks the Carey School at No. 3 nationwide.