Studio 20 @ Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute

The STUDIO 20 concentration at NYU offers master's level instruction with a focus on innovation and adapting journalism to the web. The curriculum emphasizes project-based learning. Students, faculty and visiting talent work on editorial and web development projects together, typically with media partners who themselves need to find new approaches or face problems in succeeding online. By participating in these projects and later running their own, students learn to grapple with all the factors that go into updating journalism for the web era.

The program seeks to draw together a diversely talented team of students who can produce excellent work that pushes the field forward and realizes some of the possibilities inherent in a multi-media, interactive and constantly evolving platform for journalism-- namely, the World Wide Web.

Studio classes provide a "hub" for organizing activity and a common space for inquiry and reflection around the program's various projects. Students are expected to be flexible and curious, generous in sharing skills, eager to pick up new knowledge and willing to adapt to what the project--and its deadlines--demand.

The curriculum has three parts: 1.) the traditional requirements of two basic reporting classes plus "the ethics of the web;" 2.) a core of three project-based classes called Studio I, II and III; and 3.) elective enrichment courses that allow students to pursue interests and work on initiatives of their own. In their third and final semester, students design their own projects with an appropriate media partner and try to create innovation--as well as a name--for themselves.

Each year Studio 20 will recruit a mix of writers, editors, videographers, audio journalists, programmers, designers and Web producers under the principle of "bring skills, share skills, learn new stuff." Recruiting will emphasize students comfortable in more than one medium and ready to tackle new challenges. One of our mottos is: "Everyone works on everything." Another: "acquire what the project requires."

In 2009-10, one of Studio 20's major partners was the New York Times. Working with editors at the Times, students and faculty designed and planned a hyperlocal news site for the East Village neighborhood in Manhattan. It launched in September, 2010: The Local East Village.

One of the innovations that came out of that project is The Virtual Assignment Desk, a WordPress plug-in. You can read more about it here.

In 2010-11 Studio20's major project was a collaboration with ProPublica, the investigative reporting non-profit. Students experimented with the genre of "the explainer," a form of journalism that provides essential background knowledge and brings clarity to complex issues in the news. Read more here and see the project site, Explainer.net.

In December of 2010, NYU announced that the renowned Internet thinker Clay Shirky would be joining the Carter Institute and Studio 20, where he will teach courses and consult on projects.

In 2011-12, Studio 20's major project will be a collaboration with The Guardian around a different approach to election coverage. You can read about it here and here.

Think you might be interested in applying? Email studio20.journalism@nyu.edu to let us know; do tell us about yourself and your background. Also: how we can find you and your work on the web.

Here is Studio's 20's official page at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism.

Here are the official instructions on how to apply. (The initial deadline is Jan. 10; we will accept applications after that but cannot guarantee space or financial aid. Please note that the GRE General Exam is required of all applicants. See our How to Apply page for more details.

Here is a map showing where we are located.

Follow professors Jay Rosen and Jason Samuels on Twitter, as well as Clay Shirky. And check back at this site for updates.

Renowned Internet Writer Clay Shirky Joins Studio 20

New media expert Clay Shirky, who analyzes the social and economic effects of Internet technologies, will join New York University as a full-time faculty member, with appointments at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and the Tisch School of the Arts.

Shirky, who recently published Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age(Penguin Press HC, 2010), is currently an associate teacher at the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) in the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School.

“We are delighted that Clay Shirky will have a broader role within the NYU community,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts. “As an Associate Teacher for the past 10 years in ITP and a prominent figure in the field of Internet technologies even longer, he has been making the case that the Internet is an inherently participatory and social medium. By bridging the two departments, Shirky will be able to create on NYU’s campus a range of perspectives on the conversation about the Internet’s capacity to convene groups of people and effectively gather and disseminate information.”

“It’s a thrill to be able to return Clay Shirky’s embrace of journalism, as the field’s courtship with technology grows ever deeper,” said Brooke Kroeger, director of the Carter Journalism Institute. “For our students and faculty who engage directly with the future’s big questions, this tightening of bonds with Clay and ITP could not be more timely or more welcome.” 

At the Carter Journalism Institute, Shirky will hold the title Distinguished Writer in Residence and will teach in both the Studio 20 graduate concentration and the Media Criticism course sequence for undergraduates; at the Tisch School of the Arts, he will be Assistant Arts Professor and his first new class at ITP will be Designing Conversation Spaces.

Earlier this year, Fortune named Shirky to its “Smartest People in Tech” list, which also included Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and Jeff Bezos.

“Clay Shirky may be the finest thinker we have on the internet revolution,” observed Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You. The Chronicle of Higher Education called him “a kind of spiritual guide to the wired set.” Wired Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson labeled Shirky “a prominent thinker on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies.”

Shirky has written extensively about the Internet since 1996. Over the years, he has had regular columns in Business 2.0 and FEED, among other publications, and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, Wired, and Computerworld. Shirky has also authored Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations (Penguin Press HC, 2008) and Voices from the Net (Ziff-Davis Press, 1995).

In addition to writing, Shirky has a consulting practice focused on the rise of decentralized technologies such as peer-to-peer, web services, and wireless networks that provide alternatives to the wired client/server infrastructure that characterizes the Web. Current clients include Nokia, GBN, the Library of Congress, the Highlands Forum, the Markle Foundation, and the BBC.

Prior to his appointment at NYU, Shirky was a partner at the investment firm the Accelerator Group, an international investment company. Shirky was the original Professor of New Media in the Media Studies department at Hunter College, where he created the department’s first undergraduate and graduate offerings in new media and helped design the current MFA in Integrated Media Arts program.

Before his tenure at Hunter College, Shirky was the chief technology officer of the New York City-based Web media and design firm Site Specific, where he created the company’s media tracking database and server log analysis software. Site Specific was later acquired by CKS Group, where Shirky was promoted to vice president of technology for the eastern region.

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