The Bilingual Journalism Program (formerly the Spanish-language Journalism Program) is a unique initiative to train bilingual students interested in covering Latino communities.

With the U.S. Latino population growing in political and cultural influence but still largely ignored or misunderstood by much of the mainstream media coverage, the need for this program is clear. The students in this program learn to use their bilingual skills to produce rigorous reporting, on deadline, in both languages, and with a deep understanding of the complexity of the U.S. Latino experience.

The concentration also benefits from all the Newmark J-School has to offer — the quality of its professors and guest speakers, its cutting-edge curriculum, its combination of traditional and multimedia journalism training, and its startup spirit. The bilingual students can choose to take additional courses from any other subject concentrations and media specialties.

Students in the program follow the standard M.A. in Journalism curriculum with some exceptions: They take five courses in Spanish, including the first and second semester core reporting and writing classes, an advanced research course and two subject courses. They also do a required paid summer internship at a Spanish-language or Latino-focused English-language news outlet in the U.S. or abroad.

It’s important to note that there is a separate application process for the bilingual program. The program director is Graciela Mochkofsky, an award-winning journalist, author, and teacher.

The Newmark J-School has partnered in this initiative with leading Latino media organizations, including Univision News, the award-winning news division of Communications Inc. (UCI); NBC/Telemundo; the NY City news channel NY1 Noticias; ImpreMedia, the company that owns El Diario/La Prensa in New York, La Raza in Chicago, and La Opinión in Los Angeles; Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish-government funded organization that offers extensive Spanish-language instruction.

how to apply