Reporting the World
Take the next step in your career with an online master’s degree in journalism from NYU
We’re here to train journalists who want to change the world for the better. Whether you’re just starting out or want to get to the next level, we have what you need.
News Reporter / Magazine Editor / Podcast Host / News Anchor / On-Air Reporter / Music Critic / International Correspondent / Columnist / One-Person Mobile News Organization / AI Prompt Engineer / Social Media Director / Branded Content Manager / Advertising Creative / Multimedia Travel Blogger / Virtual Reality Storyteller / Digital Producer / Documentarian / Photojournalist / Copy Editor / Investigative Reporter / Professor / AI-Assisted Reporter / AI Content Writer / AI Ethics Consultant
Program News
Lynn Hallarman Wins NY Journalism Award for Flooded Firehouse Report
Lynn Hallarman (AJO 2025) won First Place for Spot News at the […]
AJO Alum joins faculty at University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications
Jeremy St. Louis (AJO 2024) has been tapped to be the sports director for the university's Innovation News Center. St Louis was previously an Anchor and Host for CBS Sports.
Reporters for @nyu_ajo’s The Click covered the #24USElections from more than 15 states and 3 countries reporting results, interviewing voters, and explaining issues to voters.
Read their pieces online at theclick.news.
So You Want to Be an AJO Student?
“J-school changed my life. It set me on a course that, within two years, landed me a staff writer job at a storied feminist culture site. But I didn’t get there alone. AJO looked at me and saw a writer in the rough, someone whose voice they believed mattered. They helped me. Maybe they can help you.”
Coursework is only the beginning.
A thriving mentor network, a success coach, jobs and internship coordinator, one-to-one tutors and professional writing coaches, help with pitching stories to major publications, hardware and software tech support, AJO works tirelessly to help you get better as a journalist so you can make your mark on the world.
How will I fit in at AJO?
Our students come from all over, but no matter your experience, identity, or location, there is a place for you at AJO. Meet some of our students, who can tell you what it’s like. “I didn’t think I could connect with people through a screen, but I [have] made some of my best friends in the program.”
Got a Great Idea? AJO Can Help You Get That Byline
From helping the student hone his pitch to assisting with investigative techniques and working their own connections, AJO professors helped Ben Shimkus land a big investigative feature for Rolling Stone in the Spring of 2024. Here’s the story behind the story.
Modern Journalism
NYU’s American Journalism Online certificate course
This program provides aspiring journalists the flexibility to learn essential journalistic practices and skills, all on their schedule – it’s 100% online, on-demand, and completely self-paced.
Faculty & Staff
Adam L. Penenberg
Associate Professor | Director, Online Master’s in Journalism Program
B.A., Economics, Reed College
In a wide-ranging career as a writer, editor, columnist, and film producer, Professor Penenberg has written for Fast Company, Forbes, the New York Times, Washington Post, Wired, Slate, Playboy, and the Economist. A former senior editor at Forbes and a reporter for Forbes.com, Penenberg garnered national attention in 1998 for unmasking serial fabricator Stephen Glass of the New Republic. Penenberg’s story was a watershed for online investigative journalism and portrayed in the film Shattered Glass (Steve Zahn plays Penenberg). He wrote the popular “Media Hack” column for Wired News, was a columnist for Slate, and a contributing writer to Fast Company magazine.
Bebe Nodjomi
Program Manager, American Journalism Online
Bebe Nodjomi is the Program Manager for NYU’s American Journalism Online MA. She leads strategic initiatives and program development for online learning, with a focus on student engagement and educational outcomes. Bebe manages student enrollment and provides instructional design support to faculty. Prior to joining the Journalism department, she worked in Admissions at NYU Tisch Special Programs as an Assistant Director and Administrative Aide.
She has extensive experience in the film industry, working in artist-support roles and freelancing various film festivals including IFP Film Week (The Gotham), Tribeca Film Festival, and DOC NYC. She was the Documentary Lab Coordinator at Firelight Media, supporting underrepresented nonfiction storytellers creating their first or second documentary feature.
Bebe holds a Bachelor’s from Hunter College and a Master’s from Columbia University, both in Film and Media Studies. She has published academic pieces on Iranian cinema in Jump Cut and CineAction, and has presented her work at panels and conferences.
She completed a second Master’s degree at NYU in Learning Technology and Experience Design and now combines her dual expertise in arts and humanities with online education. Bebe is currently pursuing her doctorate part-time in Educational Communication and Technology at NYU Steinhardt.
Julia Dahl
Adjunct Faculty
Julia Dahl has worked as an associate features editor at Marie Claire, a city desk reporter for the New York Post, the deputy managing editor of The Crime Report, and a crime and justice reporter for CBS News. She has been the recipient of a John Jay/H.F. Guggenheim fellowship in criminal justice journalism, as well as a fellowship from the Nation Institute Investigative Fund. Julia has a BA from Yale, an MFA in creative writing from The New School, and an MA in journalism from American University.
Julia is also the author of five novels – INVISIBLE CITY, RUN YOU DOWN, CONVICTION, THE MISSING HOURS, and I DREAMED OF FALLING. INVISIBLE CITY and CONVICTION were both named best books of the year by the Boston Globe, and INVISIBLE CITY was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and has been translated into eight languages.
Betty Ming Liu
Adjunct Faculty | Life & Work Coach
Betty Ming Liu’s experiences as a veteran journalist and professor bring unique insight to the way she coaches both professional and future journalists. Betty, who is a recipient of NYU’s Outstanding Teaching Award, helps AJO students find their voices and the tools they need for work-life balance. Her coaching specialties include issues related to diversity, communication, culture, identity, writing, alcoholism and addiction, domestic violence, anxiety, and triggers and traumas that date back to childhood. Betty spent many years at The New York Daily News, where she launched a column about diversity and the immigrant experience. She was also a digital reporter on Newsday’s startup team for a website in Westchester County, N.Y., where she covered the Sandy Hook massacre and other breaking news. Betty is based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her rescue pit bull.
Liza Hogan
Adjunct Faculty
Liza Hogan is a founder and longtime senior producer for CNN.com where she covered a number of major stories from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 presidential campaign, and the 2008 election of Barack Obama. Later, as a founder and editor for PBS’s NextAvenue.org, she helped design and manage a startup news website for adults 50 and older. She earned her master’s in journalism from Northwestern University and currently works as a digital strategies consultant in Washington, D.C.
Courses
Reporting the News
Choose a beat and start reporting—then publish your work on our online publication.
Feature Writing
Use your words: learn to captivate and enthrall readers with vivid storytelling.
Law & Ethics in American Journalism
History, ethics, law—learn how to navigate murky waters.
Note: All classes meet once a week from 7-10 pm ET.
Alumni Profiles
AJO graduates are working all over the media landscape: from breaking news and culture writing, to podcast and video production, to non-profit newsletters, to anchoring local news. Read what they have to say about how the program helped them achieve their career goals.
Get Published
Collaborate with classmates from around the world on our publication, The Click—written, edited, and produced by you.
Frequently Asked Questions
This program requires 30 credits, which is at least six fewer than the other journalism programs at NYU. You’ll take seven 4-credit courses and one 2-credit course. You can look up the latest information regarding tuition and fees by academic year on our NYU Bursar’s Website. As an online student you won’t have to move to New York, no need for a visa for international students, and you can continue to work through our flexible part-time options while earning a master’s degree from a prestigious university.
Nearly all students in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, like the majority of MA students in other departments at NYU, are financing their own graduate study through external funding awards or student loans. Information on external funding opportunities and student loans follows.
To receive federal or state financial aid you must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or permanent resident of the United States. If you would like to learn more about funding options that may benefit international students at NYU, please visit the Financial Aid and Scholarships website.
Payment Plans defer tuition or allow you to pay tuition monthly.
Student Loans: U.S. applicants interested in federal student loans should fill out the FAFSA application after January 1 of the year in which they are seeking admission: fafsa.ed.gov.
Detailed information on filing the FAFSA application is found on-line at the NYU Financial Aid website. The NYU Federal School Code is 002785. At the graduate level, federal financial aid consists primarily of federal subsidized and unsubsidized student loans.
International applicants interested in student loans can find sources of loans available to international students at the NYU Financial Aid website. The website also lists other resources available to international applicants and students.
Payments from students living outside the United States must be in U.S. dollars.
Please visit our How to Apply page.
The online program is flexible. Students may complete the program in as little as 1 year, or take their time, as long as they graduate within 5 years. Visit this page to see some potential pathways to completing the program in 1, 1.5, 2, or 3 years.
- Our live class meetings happen over Zoom, so you will need:
- Internet-connection – broadband wired or wireless (3G or 4G/LTE)
- Speakers and a microphone – built-in or USB plug-in or wireless Bluetooth
- A webcam or HD webcam – built-in or USB plug-in
- Or, a HD cam or HD camcorder with video capture card
- Supported Operating Systems
- Mac OS X with MacOS 10.7 or later
- Windows 10
- Windows 8 or 8.1
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista with SP1 or later
- Windows XP with SP3 or later
- Ubuntu 12.04 or higher
- Mint 17.1 or higher
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4 or higher
- Oracle Linux 6.4 or higher
- CentOS 6.4 or higher
- Fedora 21 or higher
- OpenSUSE 13.2 or higher
- ArchLinux (64-bit only)
- Supported Tablet and Mobile Devices
- Surface PRO 2 running Win 8.1
- Surface PRO 3 running Win 10
- iOS and Android devices
- Blackberry devices
- Supported Browsers
- Windows: IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari5+
- Mac: Safari5+, Firefox, Chrome
- Linux: Firefox, Chrome
Our three-hour synchronous Zoom sessions were designed to mimic the in-person classroom experience. Students engage in live discussions that build public speaking and critical thinking skills and enhance their ability to respond in real time, an essential part of journalism. Breakout rooms and small group projects foster community and peer collaboration.
While remote learning requires more autonomy, AJO supports students with extensive 1:1 tutoring and academic resources.
The modality of the program is online and the degree awarded is a Master’s in American Journalism. The academic rigor is equivalent to our in-person offerings.
For learning to succeed, in any format, you need great students and great teachers, and AJO has both.
Hear from our students about their online experience:
Other than an internet-connected device for virtual class meetings (see previous question about technical requirements), you do not need to purchase additional equipment. You can use whatever equipment you already own, or we’ll teach you about shooting and editing video on your smartphone. If you don’t own one, we can work around that. Our motto is: whatever works.
No journalism experience is required. The program considers applicants holding a bachelor’s degree in any field. As long as you have an interest in writing and reporting, can produce a writing sample and provide three references who are familiar with your work, you’re on the right track.
English-as-a-second-language help can be provided for those who need it. Non-native English speakers must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) OR the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). The TOEFL or IELTS requirement is waived if your undergraduate or graduate degree was completed at an institution where the language of instruction is English.
GSAS recommends that applicants achieve a minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the internet-based test (equivalent to 250 on the computer-based test or 600 on the paper-based test). For the IELTS, a minimum overall band score of at least 7 is recommended.
No, the online masters program does not have a physical location. We serve students from all over the world in a completely virtual environment. All accepted students will receive an NYU student ID in the mail which will grant access to the Bobst Library, if you happen to be in New York City.
The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required.
Non-native English speakers must take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) OR the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). The TOEFL or IELTS requirement is waived if your undergraduate or graduate degree was completed at an institution where the language of instruction is English.
GSAS recommends that applicants achieve a minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the internet-based test (equivalent to 250 on the computer-based test or 600 on the paper-based test). For the IELTS, a minimum overall band score of at least 7 is recommended.
NYU journalism graduates go on to work in newsrooms around the world as reporters, editors, producers, anchors, videographers, podcasters, fact-checkers and a plethora of other job titles—this industry is always changing.
If you have questions, please contact our admin team at ajo-admin@nyu.edu.
Yes, the online program is flexible. Students may complete the program in as little as 1 year, or take their time, as long as they graduate within 5 years. Visit this page to see some potential pathways to completing the program in 1,1.5, 2, or 3 years.
No, the courses in the online journalism masters were designed specially for this program.
Request more info
If you have further questions about the online master’s degree in journalism, please contact us through the form link below. For press inquiries contact James M. Devitt, and read our press release.
For a student enrolled in a distance education program or course, please reference NYU’s state authorization website for further information detailing the applicable complaint process. NYU’s Master’s in American Journalism Online distance education complaint contact is Allan Corns, and you may reach him at acc13@nyu.edu.