Journalism Program

We’re passionate about storytelling + data.

Right now, work at Stanford and the broader Silicon Valley is changing the way stories are discovered, told, and transmitted. We are part of that transformation, empowering students to produce work that is multimedia, data-intensive, entrepreneurial, and influenced by design thinking.

Be a part of this innovation. See our mission statement. Read a message from Director James T. Hamilton >

Learn about our master’s program

Finding the hidden stories in data.

We love storytelling. And at a time where data is everywhere, we’re training students to have the tech know-how to discover stories using data skills and how to effectively tell those stories using multimedia.

What you’ll learn in our classes

Turning Data into Stories

After analyzing San Francisco's 311 data, Hina Suzuki (MA 2025) and Hannah Woodworth (MA 2025) discovered city trash cans that consistently received the most complaints for overflowing. That discovery resulted in a story about San Francisco's delayed plans to upgrade its trash cans. Three years after the plan was initially announced, the old cans remain and costs are now estimated at $10 million.

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Beat Reporting and Source Building

In News Reporting class, Itzel Luna (MA ‘25) covered stories in East Palo Alto, a Bay Area city with a significant number of Latino and Black residents. Luna covered the results of the city council election in November 2024 and looked at the delays surrounding the construction of a pedestrian bridge that would connect the east and west sides of the city.

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Using Multimedia Tools to Tell a Story

In Immersive Journalism class, MA students collaborated with noted British environmental photographer Mandy Barker, using her images to create a virtual reality experience, “Ripple plastic: the unintended life of plastic at sea.” The experience submerges viewers into the sea filled with Barker’s found marine plastic debris items. The project aims to tell the story of the lasting damage of plastics in the environment.

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You’ll build skills in the latest storytelling and data tools, including:

Python
R
Advanced spreadsheet techniques
APIs
Tableau

Explore Our Full Curriculum

Interdisciplinary innovation in the heart of Silicon Valley

Faculty with newsroom and academic expertise

Our faculty bring a combination of industry expertise and academic accomplishment to the classroom, from The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, the San Jose Mercury News, The Seattle Times and The Washington Post.

A launchpad to newsrooms across the globe

Stanford Journalism alumni are in newsrooms, media organizations and tech companies throughout the world, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Fast Company, The Verge and Google News.

Explore Our Alumni Network

Alumni Highlights

Nisa Khan (MA 2020) reports for NPR on American Palestinians facing challenges in trying to help family members.

Our Partners