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Master of Media in Journalism and Communication
Established2015
Location
London
,
Ontario
,
Canada
Websitehttps://www.fims.uwo.ca/mmjc

The Master of Media in Journalism and Communication (MMJC) program at the University of Western Ontario (also referred to as Western University) offers a one-year master's program through the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) in London, Ontario, Canada.

In 2015, the professional program was established as the first master's program in Canada to create a curriculum that combines both journalism and communications education.[1] The MMJC program continues to teach professional journalism using components from its predecessor: The Master of Arts in Journalism program. The Master of Arts in Journalism program was formed in 1974 and produced notable alumni, including Adrienne Arsenault, Scott Russell, John Ibbitson and Avis Favaro.[2]

MMJC is limited to 40 students per year.[3] The curriculum is split into three terms and in the final term, students take part in a professional journalism or communications internship in newsrooms and communications organizations across Canada and in many parts of the world, including CBC News, Al Jazeera English, Bell Media and London Free Press. Students also work on a final capstone project to compile the knowledge they have attained throughout the year, such as a host documentary or podcast series.[4]

History of Journalism at Western University

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In 1946, Western created an undergraduate program in journalism, modelled after Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.[5][6] Students would receive a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Journalism degree. The main areas of focus were the history of journalism, the law of the press, the social responsibilities of journalists alongside practical training. Other related fields were briefly focused on: news photography, typography and layout, radio broadcasting and public relations.[6]


Master of Arts in Journalism

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In 1974, the undergraduate degree was discontinued and replaced with a 12-month graduate course, leading to a Master of Arts in Journalism degree granted through the Graduate School of Journalism. Western's smallest faculty was based in Middlesex College with nine faculty members and eight staff members, including secretaries, radio and television technicians and resource staff.[5] For the period between 1974 and 1997, the Graduate School of Journalism was known colloquially as Western Journalism by students, staff and alumni [source].

30 to 40 graduate students were enrolled per year and they were required to take 14 mandatory courses and three electives over three terms.[5]

The students could choose to specialize in print, radio or television news. Students who specialized in print published a monthly newspaper called the East London Reporter while broadcast students created 10-minute radio and television documentary for air on local stations. Some of the mandatory courses were Radio and Television Production, Writing and Editing for Newspapers, Media Law and a Communication Theory course. Students fulfilled a one-month internship at a print or broadcast outlet of their choice.[5]


Faculty of Communications and Open Learning (FC&OL) (1996-1997)

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The Graduate School of Journalism merged with the Graduate School of Library and Information Science and the Faculty of Part-Time and Continuing Education to form the Faculty of Communications and Open Learning in 1996.[7][8] Prior to the merger in 1995, Dr. Tague-Sutcliffe proposed the joining of faculties due to the threat of closure facing the Master of Arts in Journalism program and library schools around North America.[9][10]

Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) (1997-Present)

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In 1997, the Faculty of Communications and Open Learning was renamed to the Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS).[8] FIMS moved from Middlesex College into the North Campus Building for improved facilities.[10]

FIMS also introduced an undergraduate program called Media, Information and Technoculture (MIT) in 1997, offering three and four year bachelor's degrees. The MIT program focuses on the intersection of media with technology and information, and asks questions about power, economics, representation and society.[11]

In 2002, FIMS created a dual-degree program called Media, Theory and Production (MTP) in collaboration with Fanshawe College and students received a bachelor's degree and a diploma in Journalism, Radio, Television or Interactive Design. [10] The MTP program was discontinued in 2017. In 2004, the Media and Public Interest (MPI) program was created, which connects communication and media to social justice issues like democracy, equity, class, race and gender.[10][12]

Master of Media in Journalism and Communication (MMJC)

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In September 2015, the Master of Media in Journalism and Communication program was launched and replaced the Master of Arts in Journalism program.[2]

MMJC's curriculum merged journalism education with communications skills to provide graduates with a broad range of skills in both fields. The program highlights how both professions rely on common storytelling skills, such as interviewing, research and multimedia, social networking fluency and concise writing.[13] The program also teaches students to think critically about the media and prepares them to be future leaders in their professions.[2]

In 2016, FIMS relocated once more. The faculty moved to the newly constructed FIMS and Nursing Building with MMJC students gaining access to new and professional facilities and equipment. Students spend the majority of their time in the FIMS Broadcast Studio, which can function as a classroom, newsroom and a newscast set. The studio features state of the art broadcast equipment, studio cameras and lighting, as well as a fully equipped broadcasting control room.[14]

Students also have 24-7 access to editing suites, audio suites and sign out portable production equipment. The four edit suites run Avid Media Composer, which is a video editing software students can use throughout the program. The audio suites run Adobe Audition to record voiceovers for video stories and interviews for radio or podcasting. Students can sign out mobile equipment for projects, including Sony broadcast grade cameras, Go Pro/DSLRs, MOJO cellphone camera grips, microphones, gimbals, sliders, digital audio recorders and tripods.[14]

Curriculum

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The one-year professional program is split into three terms: fall, winter and summer.[15]

Fall Term

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The fall term offers five required courses with a focus on journalism, communications and media production to prepare students for the more advanced winter term.

Courses

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  • Introduction to Journalism
  • Introduction to Communications
  • Audio and Visual Storytelling Skills
  • The Social Media & Digital Production Studio
  • Doing Democracy Right or Doing Right by Democracy? Ethics, Critical Theory and the Right to Know

Winter Term

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The winter term requires students to take two mandatory courses and three electives. Electives change from year to year and students are also allowed to choose electives from other graduate programs across Western.

Required Courses

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  • Information and Media Law
  • Telling the Story Using Integrated Media (Journalism) or Telling the Story Using Integrated Media (Communications)

Sample Electives

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  • Shoot for the Heart: Harnessing the Power of Video Storytelling
  • Copy Editing
  • Special Topic: Advanced Web Design & Content Strategy
  • Special Topic: Mastering Strategic Digital Communications & Initiatives
  • Special Topic: Features, Opinions and Specializations

Summer Term

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Students are required to complete a work placement in a journalistic or communications setting. An instructor will be guiding students online throughout the internship. The work placement can be completed in Canada or any destination of their choice. Students will also work on a capstone project alongside their internship placement to produce an integrated story based either in communications or journalism.

Sample Internships

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Notable Alumni

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Faculty

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Faculty members are a mix of professional practitioners and tenured professors with doctoral degrees in related fields. Professional practitioners come from diverse backgrounds in traditional and new media, including CBC, Al Jazeera English and The London Free Press.[17]

Notable staff include award-winning production staff David Mills and Wendie Crouch, who provided four decades of service to the Master of Arts in Journalism program. Crouch was awarded the Western Award of Excellence, Western’s highest honour for staff, in 2010. Mills also received the Western Award of Excellence in 2006, along with the President’s Medal for Distinguished Service in 2017.[18][19][20]

Mills joined the master's program at its inception in 1967 as the Director of Broadcast Production. With Crouch joining Mills as a Media Specialist in the studios in 1975, the team – a consistent foundation of the program for over four decades – became the face of the program for many students and alumni.[18][19][20]

Mills retired in 2013 and Crouch retired in 2015. The MMJC program awards two trophies each year to strong students in honour of their legacy [source]

Upon his retirement, Mills set up The David Mills Fund for Visiting Journalists in order to sponsor veteran journalists and recent graduates to return to Western to lecture to current students.[18][19][20]

Deans

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George W. McCracken

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  • (1945-1952) Chairman, Department of Journalism

J.L. "Bud" Wild

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  • (1952-1972) Head, Department of Journalism
  • (1972-1973) Acting Chairman, Department of Journalism
  • (1980-1981) Acting Dean, School of Journalism

Andrew W. MacFarlane

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Macfarlane was a journalist, an educator and the founding dean of the Graduate School of Journalism. He won many awards during his career, including the Poynter Institute for Media Studies National Teaching Award. For his work as managing editor, executive editor and reporter of the Toronto Telegram, MacFarlane won two National Newspaper Awards and a Bowater Award for Commonwealth and International Writing. In his public service as a professional and volunteer, he was director of the Citizens' Inquiry Branch of the Ontario Government and founder of the Advisory Council of the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. MacFarlane was also a former director of the Children's Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto, founder-director of the Canadian Medic-Alert Foundation, founder of the Canadian National Magazine Awards and of the Commonwealth Association for Education in Journalism and Communication. With his mentoring and teachings, he had a particular interest in Indigenous journalists and educational projects in Kenya and Tanzania.[21]

  • (1973) Chairman and Dean Designate, School of Journalism
  • (1974-1980) Dean, School of Journalism

Peter Desbarats

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Desbarats was a leading television broadcast journalist, hosting political affairs shows and co-anchoring Global News. He wrote for Canada's largest newspapers, including The Globe and Mail, the the Toronto Star and the Montreal Gazette. Desbarats had also assisted and consulted on multiple high-profile public inquiries and research initiatives, such as his role as a commissioner on the federal government's Somalia inquiry during the late 1990's. Being a prolific writer, he wrote 12 books, including a best-selling profile of René Lévesque and three children's books.[22] Desbarats was a print and television journalist for 30 years before being appointed as dean of the Graduate School of Journalism in 1981. Due to declining enrolment threatening journalism schools across North America, Western considered shutting the program down. During his tenure, Desbarats lobbied for, and successfully saved, the program.[5] In 2006, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

  • (1981-1996) Dean, Graduate School of Journalism

References

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  1. ^ "Master of Media in Journalism & Communication (MMJC)". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  2. ^ a b c "Blazing a new trail - Master of Media in Journalism & Communication - Faculty of Information & Media Studies - Western University". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  3. ^ "Why Choose the MMJC Program?". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  4. ^ "Program Structure". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  5. ^ a b c d e Piat-Sauve, Arielle (1994-04-09). "Peter Desbarat's Last Stand | | Ryerson Review of Journalism :: The Ryerson School of Journalism". Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  6. ^ a b "PDF.js viewer" (PDF). unesdoc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  7. ^ Norton, J (2012-02-24). "School of Library and Information Science and American Library Association Committee for Accreditation". SLIS Connecting. 1. doi:10.18785/slis.0101.07. ISSN 2330-2917.
  8. ^ a b "Library and Information Science program at the University of Western Ontario", Wikipedia, 2020-09-06, retrieved 2020-11-12
  9. ^ Bacharach, Paul (2018-08-01). "Frederick Wiseman, Ex Libris: The New York Public Library". Lectures. doi:10.4000/lectures.25548. ISSN 2116-5289.
  10. ^ a b c d "University of Western Ontario Faculty of Information & Media Studies", Wikipedia, 2019-10-14, retrieved 2020-11-12
  11. ^ "MIT celebrates 20 years - Faculty of Information & Media Studies - Western University". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  12. ^ "Studies in Media and Communications". Communication and Information Technologies Annual: ii. 2016-02-23. doi:10.1108/s2050-206020160000011008. ISSN 2050-2060.
  13. ^ "Why Choose the MMJC Program?". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  14. ^ a b "Facilities & Equipment". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-13.
  15. ^ "Program Structure". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  16. ^ "Doreen McKenzie-Sanders, C.M.: A life well lived". Ivey Business School. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  17. ^ "All Faculty". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  18. ^ a b c "Western Awards for Excellence (Staff)". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  19. ^ a b c "Other Awards". www.fims.uwo.ca. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  20. ^ a b c "Western News - Honouring the man behind the bylines". Western News. 2017-06-07. Retrieved 2020-11-30.
  21. ^ "Andrew MacFARLANE Obituary (2002) - The Globe and Mail". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  22. ^ "Peter DESBARATS Obituary (2014) - Finger Lakes Times". www.legacy.com. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
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