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The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism’s three journalism master’s programs will be combined into a single consolidated program as soon as the 2027-28 school year, with the hope of streamlining offerings, two Annenberg officials said Monday.
Current master’s students and 2026-27 admits will not be affected by the change, according to Annenberg Director of Schools Gordon Stables. Both Stables and Lisa Pecot-Hébert, director of the master’s of science program, said they do not expect any changes in the number of faculty teaching in the master’s programs or in the number of classes offered.
“In a field like journalism, where so much is changing, you periodically have to be doing this, revisiting, rebooting,” Stables said. “I’m just excited because there’s lots of faculty energy about the types of things that are going to be in the program.”
Faculty voted in a “super majority” in May to combine the programs in an effort to emphasize both customization and specialization, Stables said.
Pecot-Hébert said a lack of differentiation between the programs was a key reason for the change, though she said there was a sizable contingent of faculty opposing the combination who said the programs served different purposes.
Annenberg currently offers three master’s programs: A master’s of science in journalism, a master’s of arts in specialized journalism, and a master’s of arts in specialized journalism with an emphasis in arts and culture.
Pecot-Hébert said the specialized journalism programs typically serve students who already have journalism experience or majored in journalism for their bachelor’s degree who hope to gain experience on a focused topic like sports or arts reporting. She said the master’s of science program is designed for students with less journalism experience who either majored in a specialized topic or were already working in a different field.
Stables said it is “still up in the air” whether the combined program will be a master’s of science or master’s of arts degree, which he said would be decided based on what students want from their degree.
Pecot-Hébert said the program will “more than likely” be a master’s of science.
Pecot-Hébert said a reason for the change was a lack of differentiation between the programs amid “lower enrollment.” Stables said enrollment wasn’t a significant factor and attributed the change mostly to a need to update the curriculum to fit students’ needs.
Specifically, Pecot-Hébert said many specialized journalism students are not taking as many non-Annenberg classes related to their specialization as was intended when the program was created. Currently, many master’s of arts students take similar elective courses to the master’s of science students — though the required classes are different — decreasing the differentiation between the programs.
Stables said he has observed similar data, but said elective choices were typically more dependent on the student’s experience and goals rather than program design.
“We have such great classes that people want to stay in Annenberg, which is great. But then, when you’re thinking about it, when you’re looking at the programs, how different are the programs?” Pecot-Hébert said. “Are we so different?”
Ashton Griffith, a specialized journalism student on the sports and society track, said it is very difficult to take classes related to his specialization outside of Annenberg because many require prerequisites. He also said most of his classes don’t relate to sports, and that a 10-unit limit on the amount of 400-level courses he can take has limited his ability to go in-depth into his subject — something he said may become exacerbated when the programs combine.
“For people like me, I think that will provide an issue going forward,” Griffith said of the combination. “If they’re going to do that, there has to be more options for a lot of different courses and pathways for people to take.”
Lizbeth Solorzano, a specialized journalism student on the race and social justice track, said she doesn’t think combining the programs would be beneficial since it would combine the programs that cater to students with different goals, including working journalists and those with no experience.
“That would take away a lot from some students,” Solorzano said. “I liked the fact that one program catered to those that didn’t have so much of a journalism background … but I think for other journalists, like for me, it might be a little redundant [to be a part of the combined program].”
Pecot-Hébert said the combined program will be more flexible since it will potentially encompass students with a wider range of experience in journalism. She said students who already had significant journalism training would be able to skip some introductory courses and focus on specialized topics, like they would in the current master’s of arts programs.
“There’s no reason why all of that can’t be done in one program,” Pecot-Hébert said.
Stables said the combination will not significantly change the kinds of students admitted to the journalism master’s programs, saying the combined program will adapt to the needs of students.
“It focuses less on what was the student’s expertise before, and it focuses more on what they want to get out of the program,” Stables said. “Having one program that really lets the faculty have ownership of and drive. It’s going to make it easier to keep evolving and changing.”