University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication

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The School of Journalism & Mass Communication (UWSJMC) is the journalism school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Vilas Communication Hall, the School offers two undergraduate programs (BA Journalism and BS Journalism), two Master of Arts programs in Journalism (Research and Professional), and a doctoral program (PhD Mass Communications).

It is one of the first schools to grant a doctoral degree in mass communication, and its PhD program has produced several scholars in the field, including Guido Stempel, Donald Shaw, Richard Perloff, and Pamela Shoemaker.

At present, the School offers more than 50 courses to nearly 500 undergraduate majors and about 100 graduate students. Administratively, it is under the College of Letters and Science.

In 1904, Willard Grosvenor Bleyer developed the first Journalism course offered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.^[1] The university established journalism as a department in 1912, and reformulated it as the School of Journalism in 1927.^[2]

The School was among the first to introduce education in electronic editing and the offset press. Radio news started in the School before World War II, and by 1970 a radio-television news sequence was established.^[2]

The first sequence in advertising was developed in association with courses offered by the School of Business. By the early 1950s it encompassed creative and account management areas. Public relations developed under Professor Scott M. Cutlip, from a single lecture course in the 1940s to an established sequence by 1970.^[2]

But neither of these new tracks worked in isolation from the School's training in journalism.

To reflect the growing intellectual and professional diversity, the School adopted a broader term to better reflect the wide range of its teaching, research and service: "mass communication”. In 1970, it was officially rebranded as the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The School moved to its first permanent, dedicated home in 1972, with the opening of Vilas Communication Hall.^[2] The facility was also purpose-built as the production and studio headquarters for the Wisconsin Educational Radio and Television Networks, which have respectively become Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin, and both remain based in Vilas Hall today.

Ralph O. Nafziger’s arrival as director in 1949 began an insistence on new rigor in research. He sought and obtained the establishment of a PhD in Mass Communication. Among the first such PhD programs in the nation, it granted its first degree in 1953. By 1973, the School graduated more PhDs in mass communication than any other school.^[2]

The School grants two degrees for undergraduate students: Journalism Bachelor of Arts (JBA) and Journalism Bachelor of Science (JBS). Students may choose either reporting or strategic communications as their major track. Those who choose to double-track would take courses sequentially.

The reporting concentration focuses on the skills needed to become a journalist across media platforms, and is not split into tracks focused on specific topics or media. On the other hand, the strategic communication concentration allows students to focus on areas such as creative media messaging, strategic public relations, and account and media planning.

Along with five other departments, the School offers the interdisciplinary Digital Studies Certificate program. The program is open to all undergraduates at UW-Madison and offers 50 courses from the School Journalism & Mass Communication, as well as the departments of Art, Communication Arts, Life Sciences Communication, English, and the Information School.

The School grants two master's degrees and a doctoral degree. The Research MA focuses on developing tools in mass communication research and typically leads to enrollment in a doctoral program, while the Professional M.A. typically leads to careers in news and information production.

The PhD in Mass Communications program is jointly administered with the Department of Life Sciences Communication. This is different from the PhD in Communication Arts offered by the Department of Communication Arts. The Mass Communications doctoral program covers areas of research and teaching, such as civic and political communication, health and environmental communications, law and ethics of media, and history of media institutions, among others.

The annual QS World University Rankings consistently ranked UW-Madison as a top-10 institution for communication and media studies from 2013 to 2018, ranking 1st in 2014. It slipped out of the top 10 in 2019 by ranking 12th.^[3]

In ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (Communication), UW-Madison ranked 5th in 2017,^[4] 7th in 2018,^[5] and 8th in 2019^[6]⁠ in terms of publication score.

According to the 2017 Center for World University Rankings, UW-Madison ranked 4th in subject rankings for communication.^[7]

In the 2010 Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs by the US National Research Council, the School's doctoral program received high marks compared to more than 80 PhD communication programs within the country.^[8] In the 2010 assessment, programs were given a range of high and low ranks for each indicator. As reported by NRC, the School received the following high-low ranks:

• Ranked 1-6 in terms of S-Rank, wherein a doctoral program is ranked highly if it is strong in the criteria that scholars say are most important;
• Ranked 1-6 in terms of Research, derived from faculty publications, citation rates, grants, and awards.

In a study of prestige of communication doctoral programs based on faculty hiring patterns, the UW-Madison ranked first in terms of "placement centrality."^[9] In a national survey, 221 faculty members and 49 chairs of communication departments were asked to name the top 3 US communication programs, and UW-Madison's program was ranked first.^[10]

See also List of University of Wisconsin–Madison people.

• Anthony Shadid, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
• Louis P. Lochner, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
• Neal Ulevich, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.
• Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
• Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.