The EL PAÍS Masters to run again next year

The Masters in Journalism offered by EL PAÍS and the Autonomous University of Madrid for the past 26 years has been renewed, and will run for two years instead of one to expand the curriculum. Studies will now continue during the paid internship at a PRISA (owner of the newspaper) media outlet. But the essentials remain the same, explained course organizers. For example, this includes the central idea of the course: learning by doing the job of a journalist, "finding the facts in search of the truth" with "its rules and goals", said Soledad Gallego-Diaz at the start of the current course.

The Masters, now held by more than a thousand professionals, was created to answer a need felt by many media companies "to employ young journalists who already had some real work experience at the beginning of their careers; universities weren’t offering trainee programs, just theoretical knowledge," explained the director of the School of Journalism and former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Joaquín Estefanía. "Over the years," he added, "the Masters has focused chiefly on practical training."

"But we’ve now realised that our students need more knowledge, for example, of the new technological tools, and they need more time to practice. So a year ago we asked  the University  for permission to turn the Masters into a two-year course, so that when they graduate, students can confidently go into any area in any media sector and work at the same level as journalists who are already working there,” said Estefanía.

"Apart from the workshops (print, digital, radio journalism and a new one on data tracking) we will be reinforcing the lectures on current affairs and issues offered by writers, journalists, professionals and academics," said the deputy director of the school, Belén Cebrian. "There will be two internships, one during the two summer months the first year and one that will take up almost the entire second year of the course. Students can do their internship in any of PRISA’s media outlets, but mainly at El País,” added Cebrian.

Applicants for the Masters must pass entrance tests, divided into three phases. The first screening requires the applicants to write a three-page text explaining their views on the media and their reasons for applying for the degree (granted by the Autonomous University of Madrid). Those who pass, then sit an exam (with questions on current affairs, an essay and a language test) and finally an interview. Latin American Applicants may make the latter two phases, for the first time from next year, by videoconference or at the offices of El País in Mexico City. The Masters costs 13,300 euros and the school offers seven scholarships to those students who have done well in the tests but are in financial need.