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 Radio: Courses Faculty Events Careers

Radio

In recent years, competition for the ears of radio audiences has become much sharper, as satellite radio, streaming audio over the Internet, audio books and the popularity of MP3 devices such as the iPod have become more popular. Just around the corner lies low-powered radio, which would potentially flood the airwaves with many more new voices, speaking to audiences only a few square blocks in size.

"NPR values diversity -- in the programming we put on the air and the backgrounds of those who work with us. Our recruiters can consistently count on The University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism to offer a diverse pool of internship candidates who understand and appreciate high-quality journalism and have been listening to public radio for years. Interns from UC Berkeley have been vital members of the NPR workforce, and their work has supported NPR's service to 26 million weekly listeners."

-DeNise Johnson, NPR Human Resources

Because of the upheaval in audience structure, the radio curriculum has had to adapt itself to a changing environment. We still offer an introductory course for students with no broadcast experience and a number of advanced courses for those who already have broadcast skills. But the assumption now is that the individual student likely will work in a world vastly different from traditional terrestrial radio. The audio that J-School graduates create is more likely to find its way into some new multimedia environment, be it Webcasting or perhaps Podcasting, the creation of radio programs as MP3 files, which are uploaded to Web sites for distribution.

"For radio students in the J-School, Alaska has proved to be an important testing ground for their skills. Dozens of students have gone to the Great White North over the years for their summer internships, and many have returned to begin their careers. Public radio has a special role in Alaska. Because of the huge expanses, commercial broadcast has been marginal, but public radio is strong and vital. Many native corporations used money from the Native Claims Settlement Act of the 1970s to set up radio stations. The staffs are small, so interns perform a whole range of station jobs, logging lots of time on the air. They quickly memorize the names of the five species of salmon. The first J-School radio student who went to Alaska worked at a station in Petersburg, also known as Little Norway, population 5,000. It's an island in the Gulf of Alaska with a shortage of housing. The alumnus reported on the local school board, the president of which was his landlord."

William Drummond, professor

Radio students learn their craft in the Madeleine H. Russell Radio Lab, using the latest iMac digital editing equipment. Beginning and advanced courses, taught by working professionals, focus on the basics of reporting, writing, production, and delivery, but with a pronounced new technology twist.

Students in the introductory class gain on-air experience by producing the award-winning program "North Gate Magazine," heard Thursdays on 90.7 FM (KALX), the campus station. Advanced courses involve a wide range of production opportunities. During the spring semester, students produce "Inside Oakland," a 30-minute weekly newsmagazine examining economic and social issues in Oakland. In addition, the Kitchen Sisters, the award-winning public radio combo, have taught their own brand of eclectic radio. Other guest instructors, such as Laura Sydell of NPR, also have showcased their unique talents.

Mini-course workshops offer more-specialized instruction, for example, in ProTools digital editing. Breaking-news reporting, interviewing, writing for the ear and voicing are all covered in both the beginning and advanced courses. Alumni of the radio program are reporting from the far corners of the world for distinguished news organizations, and not always radio. Even so, they say that the experience of radio production gave them valuable skills, sharpening their writing and presentation skills.