Expand Our World-class Leadership
The goal: $22.4 million over 5 years
Berkeley Journalism is more than a professional school. It’s a working newsroom where our students take on the toughest and most important issues of the day — climate change, criminal justice, threats to justice and democracy, accountability for local and state government and so much more.
This is the heart of Berkeley Journalism’s DNA: to train great journalists who are ready to produce groundbreaking journalism that changes the world. It’s why Berkeley Journalism’s global reputation is held in such high regard, and why, year after year, our work has been recognized with the highest honors in the field.
That reputation is the result of a remarkable 50-plus year legacy. Founded during another period of social unrest and crisis, nearly all of Berkeley Journalism’s outstanding faculty are themselves working journalists. They deliver hands-on experience to a passionate and talented mix of graduate students who in their diversity represent the future of the profession, and who — year in and year out — set out from North Gate Hall to impact the journalism field worldwide.
“My two years at Berkeley Journalism were among the most rewarding of my life. I learned so much from the school’s exceptional faculty: how to take on powerful investigations, to master the art of storytelling, and to deepen my skills in both traditional and cutting-edge tools. It’s an extraordinary program.”
—Nazmul Ahasan,
Reporter, U.S. economy,
Bloomberg News
(M.J. 2023)
With this strong foundation, Berkeley Journalism is launching new educational initiatives that will prepare our students to address some of the most urgent challenges of the moment.
These include a first-of-its-kind climate journalism initiative in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources; expansion of the California Local News Fellowship designed by Berkeley Journalism and funded by the state of California, to include specialized training for editors; launch of a new business journalism certificate program with the participation of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Bloomberg News; launch of the new Wojcicki Online Journalism undergraduate minor and professional certificate program; and expansion of opportunities for training and field work in China, India and Latin America.
To expand Berkeley Journalism’s world-class leadership the Campaign for Berkeley Journalism is raising funds to:
- Place climate journalism at the center of Berkeley Journalism’s work, in partnership with UC Berkeley’s Rausser College of Natural Resources
- Support local news initiatives throughout California and beyond through the California Local News Fellowship program and a companion Editors Fellowship program
- Prepare a new generation of journalists to become leaders in the field of business journalism in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business Make Berkeley Journalism’s undergraduate minor and professional certificate programs available to anyone, anywhere in the world, through a robust online curriculum
- Expand Berkeley Journalism’s international reporting opportunities focused on China, India and Latin America