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Look to the next stage of your media and communications career. You’ve proven yourself an effective writer and storyteller, and your ideas help set strategies in motion. To reach the next level, the University of Missouri’s (Mizzou) online master of arts in journalism with an emphasis in strategic communication grows what you know about content development, connecting with your audience and branding.
As an existing corporate communications, public relations or advertising professional, you’ll be exposed to a wider spectrum of media formats, including visual and digital, for developing more targeted messaging. A thorough introduction to management and ethics for media organizations further helps you envision yourself as a leader prepared to direct campaigns and organizational communication strategies that grab attention and drive results.
Quick facts
Official name
Master of arts in journalism with an emphasis in strategic communicationCampus
Program type
Master's degreeAcademic home
Missouri School of JournalismDelivery mode
Blended, one campus visit requiredAccreditation
Higher Learning CommissionCredit hours
33Estimated cost
$34,650.00*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Why earn an online master’s degree in strategic communication?
As the media landscape changes, journalism and communications professionals find themselves along a number of paths. You might be developing branded content campaigns, you pivoted to print advertising or you’ve found your niche in digital marketing. Or, as you remain in media, you’re increasingly expected to use analytics and market research to predict what audiences will consume.
Mizzou’s esteemed School of Journalism designed this online master’s for professionals like yourself. The program reinforces and expands upon your journalistic knowledge base, covering modern-day ethics, laws and storytelling techniques to advance your skill set. Yet, you’re also thinking about what’s next. For moving up from an individual contributor or strategic role, the curriculum exposes you to the leadership, management and communication skills essential for supporting teams and driving success through collaboration.
This online master’s degree in strategic communication:
- Is taught by renowned journalism professionals also known for their teaching and research accomplishments
- Encourages collaboration and connection through small group projects that you’ll complete with professionals like yourself
- Explores the ever-growing spectrum of storytelling techniques for engaging a variety of audiences
- Covers all stages of developing, implementing and assessing communication strategies, factoring in audience and organizational goals
- Touches on techniques for developing more compelling messaging and branding
- Helps strengthen your research and analytical skills to uncover more about audiences and create more targeted campaigns that deliver desired results
- Gives you the tools to adapt and lead in today’s rapidly evolving media environment
Career prospects
Pursue a leadership, management or advanced strategic role in public relations, corporate or nonprofit communications, advertising or marketing. Earning an online master’s in strategic communication gives you an edge in a field predicted to experience steady demand between 2021 and 2031.
Potential job titles include:
- Director of major gifts
- Media relations manager
- Senior proposal coordinator
- Writer, journalist and blogger
- Communications manager
- Marketing director
Program structure
The online master of arts in journalism is divided into two portions. A 12-credit-hour core sequence builds what you know about the role of and current issues in print and electronic media. You’ll also learn more about mass media ethics and research techniques that media and communications professionals routinely employ.
Rounding out the 33 credit hours is the strategic communication emphasis area (15–17 credit hours). A degree of flexibility lets you select courses based on your industry and desired role.
Delivery of this program is blended; one on-campus seminar held in the fall is required, but individuals may elect to attend up to three times.
Courses are semester based. Students typically take one or two classes each semester and finish in two to three years.
Strategic communication courses
For the emphasis area, courses go over:
- Libel, privacy and other tenets of U.S. communication law
- Content creation and branded storytelling
- Public relations for agencies, corporations and government organizations
- Digital strategic communication methods
- Visual communication and editing techniques
- Journalism techniques for developing and engaging your audience
- Modern media monetization
- Strategic conflict management and organizational behavior
- Interpersonal and mass communication theories
- Management for media organizations
Delivery
Blended, one campus visit requiredCalendar system
Semester-basedTypical program length
2 or 3 yearsTypical course load
1 or 2 classes each semesterEarn a dual master’s degree
With this program, you can concurrently earn a masters of public health with an emphasis in:
The programs have separate applications and require a minimum of 12 hours of shared 8000-level or above graduate credit. Learn more about the academic process for dual master’s degree students at the Mizzou Graduate School website.
Accreditation
The University of Missouri is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
Faculty spotlight
Jim Flink teaches core undergraduate courses and online graduate courses, focusing on emerging technologies, changing media business models, digital strategies, content marketing, sports journalism, and the capstone experience, AdZou. Flink teaches courses across multiple disciplines and schools. His course work covers AI, immersive media, drones and more.
Flink is also a consultant with the Reynolds Journalism Institute and works with MU Journalism Abroad and for MU Extension. He helped establish an Innovation Lab at the Trulaske College of Business to bring 5G to the Mizzou campus.
Flink previously worked for Newsy and Kansas City’s KMBC-TV. His work was featured on “Larry King Live,” “Good Morning America” and more. Flink has won many awards: an Emmy, Missouri and Kansas Broadcasters Association awards and more. Flink has international journalism experience, working for the Korean Broadcasting System, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and teaching in the Philippines.
Amy Simons teaches news literacy, multimedia journalism and advanced social media strategies. Since joining the faculty, Simons developed an interest in international journalism, training professionals on campus and abroad. She has traveled across China and the European Union, teaching web-first workflows, mobile journalism techniques and how to use social media as a reporting tool and a means to disseminate journalistic content.
She is an advisor to the University of Missouri (Mizzou) Women in Media, supporting members’ journalism, advertising and public relations careers. She advised ONA Mizzou and served as a mentor in student competitions.
Simons is known for her expertise in teaching online courses. She has won several awards for her innovative, interactive approaches, including the Mizzou Online Excellence in Teaching Award, the MU Connect Champion Award and more.
Simons hosts and produces Views of the News, a weekly program on KBIA-FM and KBIA.org.
Keith Greenwood teaches courses in journalism and photojournalism history, photography’s role in society and research methods. His research interests include photojournalism history and the influences that determine depictions of subjects in photographs.
Greenwood has taught at Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma. He has received top-paper awards from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and has served as website administrator for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication visual communication and history divisions. He was named a Fellow in arts and humanities research and creative activities for the University of Missouri from 2022-2024 and has received the McKerns Grant for research from the American Journalism Historians Association.
Greenwood worked in radio and as a freelance photographer before focusing on photojournalism. He is a member of the American Journalism Historians Association, the National Press Photographers Association and more.