UC Berkeley Journalism - Program

The goal of the Graduate School of Journalism is to produce professional print, broadcast, and new media journalists who move on to positions of leadership and influence. The two-year Master of Journalism (M.J.) program provides intensive training in journalism skills and teaches the traditions and principles of the field.

In Business Reporting: Courses Faculty Events Careers

Business Reporting

From the visitors' gallery above the New York Stock Exchange, students on a class trip to Manhattan could see where Wall Street, corporate America and personal finance converge. At the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco, they began to see how new approaches to banking can make or break a struggling community on the verge of rebirth.

Seeing is believing, but understanding is better. That is what the business reporting program, supported by a generous grant from Bloomberg News Service, strives to achieve. Connect the dots between big money and big business, between Wall Street and Main Street. Demystify the jargon. Get into the corporate boardroom to show how corporate governance works and sometimes fails. Dig through dreary financial records to unearth real stories, whether they're about workers losing their jobs or using their creativity to produce a breakthrough product.

"Berkeley, the place and the university, is a wonder. So, too, are the students and professors in the program. Which is why I always jump at the opportunity to come back to this energizing campus and guest-lecture about my experiences as an investigative business reporter at The Washington Post."

Alec Klein, The Washington Post

Berkeley's Business Reporting Program takes full advantage of Berkeley's proximity to Silicon Valley and high-tech centers in San Francisco, Emeryville and Oakland. It also brings in top business journalists from around the country to teach and guest-lecture.

With corporate scandals, boardroom breakdowns, global business, world trade and the economy dominating the news, well-trained financial journalists are in greater demand than ever. J-School courses focus on core business and financial reporting skills, such as understanding financial statements, public records, corporate governance, accountability, and how to cover the impact of technology on society.

Students cover big stories of the day and are published in, and intern and work for, major financial publications, Web sites and daily newspapers such as the San Francisco Chronicle, MarketWatch.com, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The New York Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, Business 2.0, Fortune, CNET, Wired. Our goal is to produce the next generation of highly qualified business journalists for positions at top financial publications, metropolitan newspapers, online sites and broadcast outlets. The program is generously funded by Bloomberg News.