MAZ and ZHAW introduce new CAS Innovation in Journalism

The IAM and the MAZ have jointly developed the new CAS Innovation in Journalism. The MAZ in Lucerne is responsible for the implementation and the majority of the course days will also take place there. The IAM is to ensure the quality of the new offering with its professional, scientific and didactic expertise and is responsible for compliance with the requirements for a university degree.

For both, it is clear that journalism has changed fundamentally and that the change is continuing. Those who work in this volatile professional field must question routines and attitudes and acquire new competencies, write the IAM and the MAZ in a joint statement. "Innovative technologies for information acquisition, processing and production as well as for the organization of work and its distribution only unfold their meaning in social practice. It is high time, therefore, that vocational training, together with experienced journalists, addresses the professionalization of these practices," explains Vinzenz Wyss, Professor of Journalism at the IAM and co-director of the new CAS.

Journalistic profile of a comprehensive MAS program

"The CAS Innovation in Journalism combines practical knowledge with innovation competence and offers journalists a Swiss university qualification for contemporary professional mobility," Frank Hänecke, MAZ director of studies and co-director of the new continuing education program, is quoted as saying in the press release. The CAS allows modern journalism to be supplemented and deepened at the master's level, and is recognized as part of the IAM's MAS in Communication Management and Leadership. This MAS focuses on all fields of activity in media-mediated communication, especially organizational communication and journalism.

Digital research tools, community management, algorithmic journalism

The part-time CAS takes up current developments in professional journalism and teaches related skills. These include topic identification, research and preparation of topics in a digital environment, new possibilities of communication and interaction as well as reflection and orientation knowledge against the background of the ongoing digital transformation. Other topics include the technical framework, the latest results from media usage research, and scientific findings on new job profiles and roles.

The CAS requires at least 2 years of qualified professional experience in journalism and the completion of a basic training in journalism - such as the MAZ Diploma in Journalism or the Bachelor of Communication of the IAM - or another higher education institution (university, university of applied sciences). Practitioners with comparable additional professional competence can also be accepted "sur dossier". A minimum of five years of professional experience is required to upgrade the CAS to the MAS.