The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism is housed at 219 W. 40th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, in the former home of the legendary New York Herald Tribune. Located in the heart of the media capital of the world, the School is within short walking distance of many of the nation’s largest media companies. The new headquarters for The New York Times is next door.
The School was designed to reflect its mission of preparing students for the ongoing convergence of print, broadcast, and interactive journalism technologies. The centerpiece is a 130-seat wireless newsroom with a 20-foot multimedia wall, adjacent to a digital television and radio broadcast center. Five editing suites are supplemented by a 14-position edit classroom, all outfitted with Apple’s Final Cut Pro editing software.
Classrooms can reach out anywhere in the world via wireless connectivity, teleconferencing, online interactivity, and live streaming. Instructional space and furnishings are highly flexible to allow students to work in small teams, as an entire class, or individually. A café and mini lounges scattered throughout provide informal space for relaxing or working. A library/research center houses 1,500 donated journalism books, newspapers, and magazines, which are supplemented by online subscriptions and databases available to students day or night on their Apple laptops.
Consistent with the current push for transparency in news, faculty and administrative offices, seminar rooms, and portions of classrooms are constructed of glass and aluminum. A floating stairway of glass, stainless steel, and terrazzo joins the third and fourth floors. “Green” technologies were used to improve air quality, save energy, dampen sound, and maximize natural light.
In addition to the professional-level radio and broadcast studios at the School, students also have access to facilities at CUNY-TV, a 24-hour cable station located nearby at the CUNY Graduate Center. For their fieldwork, students are able to borrow high-end cameras, microphones and audio recorders, video cams, laptop computers, and other equipment from the School’s broadcast center.
