The Yale Journalism Initiative began in 2006 with a generous grant from Yale alumnus Steven Brill ’72 LAW ’75, the founder of The American Lawyer magazine and Court TV, and his wife, Cynthia Margolin Brill ’72. Its purpose is to encourage and equip students in Yale College, and in its graduate and professional schools, who aspire to contribute to democracy in the United States and around the world by becoming journalists.
Believing that the best preparation for a career in writing is a broad, liberal-arts education, Yale does not offer a journalism major. There are numerous opportunities at Yale to study writing and to write for and edit student publications, and the Initiative aims to further support certain students, those selected as Yale Journalism Scholars, with an intensive journalism seminar in the English department; career counseling; support for summer internships; talks by visiting journalists; and access to a network of alumni in journalism. Details about becoming a Journalism Scholar can be found here.
Many of the country’s finest journalists are Yale graduates, including Bob Woodward, Tom Wolfe, former Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham, National Review founder William F. Buckley, Slate editor Jacob Weisberg, New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer, genocide expert and Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power, and Propublica.org editor-in-chief Paul Steiger. The Yale Journalism Initiative is designed to help current Yale students take their places in this tradition.
Use this site to learn more about the Initiative’s programs. If you have further questions, please contact the Initiative’s coordinator, Mark Oppenheimer, by email (mark.oppenheimer@yale.edu).
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Becoming a YJI Scholar
All students who have taken English 467 Journalism and would like to be certified Yale Journalism Scholars should bring hard copy to Mark Oppenheimer's mailbox in the Writing Center an envelope containing: 1) your five best clips, 2) a one-page resume, and 3) a letter saying how you have fulfilled the requirements. The deadline is April 1.
Mark Schoofs Will Teach Journalism Course
The English Department is delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Schoofs, Yale class of ’85, to teach Journalism in Spring 2012. He succeeds Jill Abramson, who left our faculty this year when she became editor-in-chief of the New York Times. Schoofs, currently a senior editor at Pro Publica, is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter with more than 20 years of experience as a journalist and an editor. Prior to joining Pro Publica, he was an investigative reporter for the Page One section of the Wall Street Journal, and a staff writer for The Village Voice, where his series on AIDS in Africa won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. Schoofs has special expertise in global health reporting, and has reported from more than 25 countries on four continents.
The Journalism seminar, ENGL 467, is the qualifying class for the Yale Journalism Initiative. As part of his work for Yale, Schoofs will play an active role in mentoring Yale Journalism Scholars to help prepare them for internships and professional positions in journalism. Our students will benefit immensely from working with such an acclaimed and talented writer, someone with vast experience in domestic and international reporting, and in writing about science and public policy. Read some of Schoof's past work for the Village Voice (here) , the Chicago Reader (here), and The Wall Street Journal (here).
