Master's programme in Investigative Journalism
Summary
You will get a rich understanding of investigative journalism as a democratic phenomenon, plus the skills to conceive, design and conduct effective journalistic investigations in today’s media environments.
The programme focuses on investigative, cross-border collaborations, data journalism and vizualisations. Research and fact checking are essential parts.
You will expand your journalistic and team-working skills, develop your digital competences and methods to hold the powerful to account.
About
About the programme
Journalists are the watchdogs of democracy. With globalization placing extraordinary pressures on human societies, posing unprecedented threats from pollution, transnational crime, rogue states and terror networks, climate change, and the actions of powerful figures in business and politics, the need for investigative journalism has never been greater.Journalists are now forced to extend their investigations internationally. These developments demand a new understanding of how conditions for investigative reporting differ between countries in terms of regulation, risks, and the nature of corruption at all levels of society. They also require new journalistic methods, techniques, and transnational collaborations.
Preparing for a changing industry
The programme provides knowledge and skills in investigative journalism, with specialization in international collaborations and data journalism.
The programme is well established in the journalistic profession and the news industry, and developed in consultation with them. The goal is to prepare you for a changing news business through optimizing knowledge and skills that are essential, but also fundamental journalistic values and ethics. You will develop the skills to monitor transnational institutions, business, and politics.
Combining practice with theory
Theoretical and practical perspectives are integrated through all the courses. We have an explicit pedagogical goal of moving away from the distinction between the academic and professional spheres that so often characterize vocational programmes. This is expressed by emphasizing the methodological and problematizing aspects of journalism, as well as the possibilities of applying scientific perspectives and research for journalistic purposes.
This goal is also highlighted in the choice we provide you for your final project, which can be carried out as an investigative journalistic project or as an academic thesis.
The course is campus-based and built around the student’s active involvement. The programme is suitable for journalists or others engaged in societal issues. We welcome students with a diverse background.
Please note that the programme is in English.
This course focuses on investigate, data and crossborder journalism, and thus little focus on basic journalism skills. However, over the year we offer a series of journalism boot camps with practice oriented writing workshops.
Programme duration
September 1, 2025-June 7, 2026
Application periods
Non-EU/EEA citizens (first application round):
Oct 15 2024-Jan 15 2025
EU/EEA citizens (second application round):
March 17 2025-April 15 2025
Apply on: universityadmissions.se. Together with your application you should attach your CV and cover letter, no later than the final day of application (15 April).
Programme structure and content
The programme runs over one year and consists of four mandatory courses given at full pace and combine theory with the appliance.
Investigative Journalism in Digital Environments introduces basic techniques and approaches of investigative, cross-border journalism, identifying its most important trends and examining its cultural context.
Data Journalism and Visualization addresses data literacy, as gathering, questioning, cleaning and analyzing data with a journalistic purpose, and communicating the stories with different types of data vizualisations. It provides hands-on opportunities to practice programming and different tools. The course provides a theoretical perspective on data journalism.
Investigative Journalism Across Borders focuses on cross-border collaborative journalism in theory and practice, team work and project planning.
Master's Thesis or Project in Investigative Journalism. The programme concludes with either an investigative journalism project or an academic thesis.
Who should apply?
We welcome students with a diverse background, with academic and/or professional experiences from different fields. Journalists and non-journalists, from all over the world.
We assume that you are curious, want to hold the responsible to account and that you are interested in telling a good story.
Journalism can be described as a discipline of verification, so it is an advantage if you enjoy working in a structured and meticulous way.
If you want to sharpen, deepen, and expand your journalistic skills, then apply to the one-year Master's Programme in Investigative Journalism.
This is a full-time programme and there will be on-campus and travel activities.
Prerequisites and selection
Entry requirements
A Bachelor's degree of 180 credits or corresponding. Applicants must prove knowledge of English: English 6/English Course B from Swedish Upper Secondary School or the equivalent level of an internationally recognized test, for example TOEFL, IELTS.
Selection
For the selection we require a CV + a Letter of Intent of maximum 500 words each for the two documents (if this limit is exceeded the applications will be disqualified). Save your CV and Letter of Intent into PDF documents and upload them with your other documents (please see our webpage for information about the deadline). The Letter of Intent should address the questions below:
- What are your personal, and professional, aims and aspirations, and in what way do you think the programme will help you develop toward those goals?
- What specifically in the programme structure and content attracted your interest?
- How have your past experiences, both academic and non-academic, shaped your interest in the issues dealt with in the programme?
- How have these experiences prepared you for the programme?
After graduation
Graduates of the programme receive the degree Master of Science in Journalism specializing in investigative journalism.
Facilities
The teaching takes place in a modern digital environment in the premises of JMG. Students are expected to bring their own laptops, access to video and audio editing studios is possible upon request.
