New degrees for a new era
Reporting for Cronkite News, then ASU student Wilder Adams conducts an interview at the 2024 Paris Olympics outside the Hôtel de Ville, or city hall. Adams and the photographer, Spencer Barnes, have since graduated from ASU; Adams is a sports-focused podcaster, and Barnes is a photographer for the Suns and Mercury basketball teams in Phoenix. Photo by Spencer Barnes/Cronkite News
This fall, Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication launches the largest collection of new degree paths since its founding in 1984, marking a new era of preparing students for mass communication careers.
The profession of journalism has evolved dramatically since Walter Cronkite sat behind his anchor desk at CBS. News outlets have changed over the decades for a variety of reasons, including shifts in news delivery and advertising models.
ASU is leading the way through these changes and innovating how future communicators are trained — all while retaining the high-quality journalism and strategic communications degree paths that have been the longstanding heart of the Cronkite School.
“The media environment has changed, and a leading journalism and mass communication school must change with it,” said Battinto L. Batts Jr., dean of the Cronkite School. “If we teach professional standards only to students who expect to work in traditional news organizations, we abandon many of the communicators who will shape the current and next generation’s understanding of the world.”
Nine new undergraduate and graduate degrees will begin at the downtown Phoenix school this fall, following an intensive, two-year curriculum overhaul that included research, job market analyses and more than 30 listening sessions among alumni, students, industry professionals, faculty and others.
In addition to new degree paths, the overhaul led to other improvements in Cronkite’s approach to undergraduate degrees. The school has strengthened its writing curriculum in the age of AI, underscored the importance of electives and certificates to encourage well-roundedness, and required globally minded learning to broaden perspectives.
The core values and skill sets of the practice of journalism — ethics, resourcefulness, data analysis, clear writing and commitment to truth, among others — remain and can be applied to a number of communication roles.
“The school bearing Walter Cronkite’s name should carry the best traditions of journalism into the emerging media ecosystem while also teaching the production, audience and entrepreneurial capabilities required to succeed within it,” Batts said.
Joining Cronkite’s existing bachelor’s degrees in journalism, sports journalism, media studies, media literacy, and digital strategy and audience engagement, the new undergraduate degrees are:
Alongside Cronkite’s existing master’s degrees in sports journalism, investigative journalism, strategic communication, narrative and emerging media, and digital strategy and audience engagement, the school is adding graduate degrees in:
Jessica Pucci, Cronkite’s senior associate dean, oversaw the school’s extensive curriculum update. The process yielded fresh degree offerings that will fill industry needs — while preserving the rigor and high quality that make Cronkite a powerhouse in mass communication education, she said. Coursework in ethics, law, data analysis and research pervade all of the school’s degree programs.
“The strongest academic programs don’t chase trends, they anticipate them,” Pucci said.
“We've worked closely with leaders across the media industries to design relevant, rigorous degrees that give our students a competitive advantage from the moment they graduate. These new degrees provide the real-world skills employers demand, preparing Cronkite graduates to thrive and lead in the careers of tomorrow."
The school’s job market analyses revealed priority areas for education. The two new degrees in sports communication, for example, arose from the exploding need for sports-related content across various mediums in the $2.3 trillion global sports market. Today’s sports-focused communicators must be prepared to reach audiences where they are, and Cronkite alumni are producing content for athletes, teams, leagues and brands.
“Every industry sector — from health care, education and sports to science, nonprofits and government — needs people who can discover meaningful information, communicate it effectively, build trust with audiences and create measurable impact,” Pucci said.
“Universities have a responsibility to prepare students for the world they're entering, not the world that existed a generation ago. ASU assumes responsibility for the communities we serve, and today that includes digital communities.”
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