An Enduring Mission

The origins of the Newhouse School trace back to a conversation at the Hotel Syracuse in the late 1950s.

There, during a half-hour meeting that began at 7:30 a.m., publisher Samuel I. Newhouse committed $15 million to then-Chancellor William P. Tolley to help Syracuse University fund the building of a premier journalism school. Newhouse 1 opened its doors in 1964.

Six decades later, the founding mission of providing the best journalism education in the country endures. 

“I can think of no better way to honor the extraordinary vision of  S.I. Newhouse and his family for the Newhouse School’s 60th anniversary than to recommit ourselves to excellence in journalism education,” Dean Mark J. Lodato said. 

Headwinds face newsrooms. Technology continues to change the way news is reported and consumed. The industry is seemingly in constant churn and reinventing itself.

The Newhouse School embraces these challenges. 

Faculty maintain close ties to the industry to keep tabs on the latest trends and help students build career connections, while the school continues to invest in the latest equipment and technology.

“Our goal as a faculty is to help our driven journalism students move seamlessly into newsrooms after graduation,” said Anthony Adornato, associate professor and chair of the broadcast and digital journalism department. “As the industry evolves, Newhouse will evolve with it to ensure our graduates are prepared to work and lead from Day 1.” 

One of the school’s latest efforts is a reenvisioned journalism curriculum, beginning in fall 2025, which puts emphasis on ensuring students are skilled in the art of storytelling across multiple platforms. It’s the result of years of discussion among faculty and school leadership. 

The bachelor’s in journalism program formalizes in writing what professors had already been doing in the classroom: training aspiring journalists to meet audiences wherever they get their news, whether on their phone, a social platform or their favorite podcast. 

Students will still be able to select a track in either broadcast and digital journalism or magazine, news and digital journalism, allowing them to focus on a specialty.

“Teaching the core fundamentals of reporting, writing, communications law and ethics will never go away,” said Greg Munno, associate professor and interim chair of magazine, news and digital journalism. 

“What the new curriculum does is equip all journalism students with the skills to tell stories across multiple media formats and prepare them for tomorrow’s newsrooms,” Munno said.

Among the school’s other journalism initiatives or priorities: 

• Continuing to recruit, develop and encourage students who will work in newsrooms seeking to ensure that the diversity of their staff and leadership reflects the communities they serve. This commitment traces back to 1994 and the start of the Newhouse Diversity News Fellowship.
• Applying for grants that foster partnerships with journalism organizations to fill news deserts, and collaborating with media outlets to find ways to keep local communities informed, especially in rural areas. An example is how Newhouse students cover Central New York news for public radio station WAER.
• The Newhouse Sports Media Center’s newly expanded home in Newhouse 3 serves as a hub for students pursuing sports journalism as a focus within the broadcast or magazine, news and digital journalism tracks. 
• Working to strengthen trust in news media, governance and society through the Syracuse University Institute for Democracy, Journalism and Citizenship (IDJC), the partnership initiative with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The opening of the new University center in Washington, D.C., also allows for expansion of the Newhouse DC program and related internship and experiential learning opportunities.

Additionally, Newhouse is committed to leading the way in the research and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence in reporting the news, as well as collaborating with the news industry and educating students to root out misinformation.

Perhaps most importantly, the success of the Newhouse School is embodied in the generations of alumni who have graduated with journalism degrees and gone on to write, report, edit, produce and lead newsrooms across the country. 

At the school’s 60th anniversary celebration, S.I. Newhouse’s son, Donald Newhouse, recalled how his father beamed with pride when Newhouse 1 formally opened its doors on Aug. 5, 1964. 

“My father expressed his vision that day … ‘In the end, it is the quality of persons who choose to make media a career that counts. We hope … that the brightest possible young men and women will be found at this school,’” Donald Newhouse said. 

“In the 60 years since that dedication, through unprecedented upheaval in the media field, the Newhouse School has carried out that vision and mission that he and [Chancellor Tolley] agreed to during the memorable half-hour meeting at the Hotel Syracuse.”

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