After receiving a $5 million donation for an emerging media center in June, the Graduate School of Journalism plans to broaden its curriculum and bolster research in online and digital journalism this semester.
The endowment, which comes from the Connecticut-based Tow Foundation will go toward the development of the new media-focused Tow Center. According to a press release from the foundation, the center’s primary mission will be to explore novel methods of digital reporting, as well as to “educate the next generation of journalists who have the skills and knowledge to lead the future of professional journalism on the Internet and other forms of new media.”
The new center highlights the school’s goal of adapting to an industry that is becoming increasingly digital. “This gift from the Tow Foundation reflects their vision of a journalism profession that evolves with changing demands and is based on sound research and cutting-edge innovation,” Dean Nicholas Lemann said in the release. “Their generosity is also a reminder and a challenge to those in the field of journalism to turn the obstacles we face into opportunities for growth.”
The school will now have to match the donation with an additional $10 million from other sources. Once it receives full funding, the school will hire two full-time faculty members to lead the center.
In addition to the $5 million granted to Columbia through his foundation, philanthropist Leonard Tow donated $3 million this summer to the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism.
Tow secured both endowments in light of growing concern for the quality of journalism in new media formats. “We want to help speed the process of evolution and help prepare the next generation of journalists for a new media environment,” he said.
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