The Philip Merrill College of Journalism is a journalism school located at the University of Maryland, College Park. The college was founded in 1947 and was named after newspaper editor Philip Merrill in 2001. The school has about 550 undergraduates and 70 graduate students enrolled.
The school awards B.A., M.A., M.J. and Ph.D. degrees in journalism. Undergraduates can focus on broadcast or multi-platform journalism.
A Washington Post recruiter has said the college is one of the nation's best journalism schools.
The university's student newspaper, The Diamondback, is not affiliated with the school. However, the school provides opportunities for students to publish work with the Capital News Service (Maryland), a wire service serving print, broadcast and online media in the Washington, D.C. region and Maryland Newsline, a live half-hour three-day-per-week news broadcast (during the fall and spring semesters) that reaches more than 500,000 households in the greater Washington metropolitan area. The newscast is now streamed via YouTube in HD.
The three college-sponsored student news outletsâ€"the nightly television show, online news magazine, and weekly radio showâ€"have all been named the best in the nation by the Society of Professional Journalists in the last few years.
The school is home to the National Association of Black Journalists, the largest organization of journalists of color in the U.S. From 1987 to 2015, the university published the American Journalism Review, a magazine covering print, television, radio and online media; in 2013 AJR became an online-only publication, and in 2015, the college announced that it was terminating the journal.
Faculty
The school's faculty includes several Pulitzer Prize winners: Knight Chair Dana Priest (The Washington Post), Ira Chinoy (The Washington Post) and Deborah Nelson (The Seattle Times). Emmy Award winners include Eaton Broadcast Chair Mark Feldstein, Associate Professor Ron Yaros and Eleanor Merrill Distinguished Visiting Fellow Tom Bettag. Other notable faculty members include former Washington Post sports editor George Solomonâ€"who directs the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalismâ€"and ESPN's Around the Horn panelist and Washington Post columnist Kevin Blackistone.
Building
The school was formerly housed in the Journalism building located next to McKeldin Library; the building was the smallest on campus to be home to a college. Most of the broadcast facilities, including the Maryland Newsline studio, are located in nearby Tawes Hall.
The college moved into a new journalism building, the John S. and James L. Knight Hall, on January 4, 2010.
Alumni
- Connie Chung, former anchor and reporter for NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC.
- Mark Davis, talk show host and writer, KSKY Dallas-Ft Worth, Salem Media Group, Dallas Morning News, townhall.com
- Giuliana Rancic, E! News presenter and TV personality.
- Jon Franklin, two time Pulitzer Prize winner
- Jane Healey, Pulitzer winner with the Orlando Sentinel
- Patrick Sloyan, Pulitzer winner with Newsday
- Sarah Cohen, Pulitzer winner with The Washington Post
- DeWayne Wickham, Columnist for USA Today
- Scott Van Pelt, ESPN Sportscenter anchor (left the university one course short of completing his degree requirements)
- Tim Kurkjian, ESPN Baseball writer and reporter
- Jimmy Roberts, NBC Sports Host
- David Mills, Emmy-winning TV writer and producer
- Bonnie Bernstein, ESPN and CBS sportscaster
- Pam Ward, ESPN play-by-play commentator; first female play-by-play announcer for college football in television history
- Carl Bernstein, who worked with Bob Woodward to uncover the Watergate Scandal, attended the school but did not graduate
- Gary Graves, USA Today Sportswriter
- John A. Jenkins, publisher of Congressional Quarterly
- Aaron Kraut, newspaper writer
- Anna Eisenberg, Times Community Newspapers Page Designer
- Sue Kopen Katcef, reporter/anchor for WBAL (AM) and television reporter for WJZ-TV and Maryland Public Television
- Cari Lynn, journalist/author, The Whistleblower, Becoming Ms. Burton, Leg the Spread
- Christine Delargy, 2012 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism, former senior producer and video content manager for POLITICO
- Dick Jerardi, Philadelphia Daily News Sportswriter, 2014 elected to the United States Basketball Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame
See also
- Journalism school
- University of Maryland, College Park
References
External links
- Philip Merrill College of Journalism Official Webpage