Journalism Scholarship for Programmers

I came across a Deck ad for journalism scholarships Medill, the journalism school at Northwestern. It’s a bit surprising to see until you read the very first sentence: “Are you a skilled programmer or Web developer?”

They’re gearing a journalism master’s program to programmers! That’s cool.

The goal of our new scholarship program is to produce a new kind of media professional — someone who deeply understands both technology and journalism. We can’t predict all the ways that someone might use these skills and knowledge. Maybe you’ll find ways to apply technology to the task of finding or making sense out of information. Maybe you’ll want to help create new media products that make creative use of technology. Or maybe you’d like to report about technology for a blog, a Web site like C|Net or a publication like PC Magazine. Perhaps you’d do all of these, or something else entirely. Our goal is to have you leave Medill with an unusual combination of skills and perspectives that will position you to help reinvent journalism for the digital age.

I like what their selling. Classes and experiences in reporting for those of us whose background is tilted strongly towards technology. It would be interesting to watch those who emerge.