As the School of International and Public Affairs undergoes curricular review, the collaboration with the Columbia School of Journalism and a change in leadership could determine the future of the SIPA’s International Media Concentration. Yet the potential for the appointment of a new acting director next year —a position which could go to professor Anya Schiffrin—has made some question the balance of journalism and government-oriented courses offered in the program.
Professor Donald Johnston, a J-School alumnus who founded IMC after serving as the academic dean of Journalism for four years, claims he is teaching the same type of writing courses he has taught at Journalism. However, the IMC and the Masters of Science diverge in the academic disciplines which they deem important.
The IMC only requires two-fifths of the classes to have a media focus, and SIPA does not offer courses on covering specific areas.
“The emphasis changed. Whereas before students came to SIPA wanting to become foreign correspondents, now they choose IMC because they want to deal with journalists, work for non-profit organizations,” Johnston said.
Johnston does not consider that IMC is competing with Journalism. “Although there were some in the beginning who viewed my starting the program as potential competition, this is not the case now,” Johnston said.
Yian Huang, a former SIPA student who fulfilled the IMC and is now completing the MS degree at Journalism, said, “People don’t really have much time to think outside the Journalism School.”
Under Dean Nicholas Lemann, however, the J-School has been on its own quest to make the curriculum more oriented toward international affairs.
Electives include International Reporting taught by Tom Kent, who has worked for the Associated Press, as well as a seminar on Covering Conflict led by former Reuters correspondent Judith Matloff.
Huang described Conflict Reporting as a class that “focuses on logistics, on a practical approach.”
While completing IMC, Huang was also able to take classes at Journalism.
Journalism Associate Dean for Communications Elizabeth Weinreb Fishman provided insight on the enrollment of SIPA students in Journalism classes. “The spaces are limited and Journalism students get priority,” she said.
Each term, IMC students receive a list of available classes and are enrolled on a rolling basis. IMC students also obtain priority over all other candidates throughout the University. They are not required to get professor permission to enroll in Journalism classes.
Both Johnston and Fishman pointed out that not many students take advantage of Dual Degree program that exists between the two schools, mostly because “they don’t want to pay the extra money,” Johnston said.
Aside from the collaboration with Journalism, IMC’s future largely depends on the curriculum review and the potential changes Schiffrin might bring to the program.
Schiffrin’s background in international business and economic reporting could be the starting point of an identity focused more on media policy and development. “It seems like this is where IMC should go distinguish itself,” said Ben Colmery, a current student in SIPA’s economic and political development program.
Questions remain as to whether Schiffrin will head IMC long enough to propose such changes.
Since joining IMC in 2003 on a part-time position, she has had to balance her responsibilities as IMC co-director with both her career and her commitment to her husband, Nobel-Prize-winning economist and Columbia University Professor Joseph Stiglitz.
Colmery also wrote in an e-mail: “Obviously they consider it important to include in the curriculum. But I just don’t feel like they see just how important it is.”
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