Our Mission

The UW-Madison School of Journalism & Mass Communication contributes to the health of society, democracy and the economy by advancing understanding of the mass media central to all three, and by producing graduates equipped to study and understand those media and use them constructively to inform and persuade.

The SJMC will produce Professional Graduates who can convey information and express ideas effectively in contemporary media, can understand the responsible and ethical use of mass media and their relationship with social, political, legal and economic systems, and can think strategically, creatively and critically, solve problems in a professional context and cope with change in the professional world.

The SJMC will produce Research Graduates who are rigorously educated in theoretical concepts and research methods, will engage in critical analysis of media content, performance and audiences, will add to basic and applied knowledge in the field, will bring critical and normative perspectives to their analysis, will perform with distinction in the academic and professional worlds, and will provide leadership nationally and internationally.