Military Photojournalism Program [MPJ]
PJ has been at Newhouse since 1963, except for an absence from 1988-1997. It started as a program between the School, and the Department of the Navy. Professor Frederic Demarest proposed the program to the Navy and was the program director for 25 years. The goal of the program was to teach active-duty sailors to become better photographers and storytellers. Eventually, other services participated in the program.
In 1992, the DoD looked at the way they covered the first Gulf war, and decided they needed training in broadcast journalism much like the earlier photojournalism program. The Newhouse School bid on both the MMM program and the MPJ program; we were awarded the MMM program and the MPJ program went to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).
Military Motion Media Program [MMM]
MMM (formerly MMMSP) at S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is not a technical training school. It is a visual information academic program based in the school’s broadcast journalism (BJ), and Television, Radio and Film (TRF) departments. Our goal is to turn military videographers into storytellers.
The year starts in August when you will take an English/grammar refresher class devoted to military students. This lasts for two weeks and helps students who have been out of the classroom a while. You brush up on English and grammar skills. You are taught study habits and your way around the library. The class is intense. Actual class time is four hours per day, but homework will take at least another four hours daily. Every student who has gone through the program has great things to say about what they learned in this class and how much it benefited them. It is a great building block for the classes that lie ahead.
After the English/grammar refresher, you will join the rest of the campus when regular Newhouse classes convene. Most of the classes you take will be with fellow military students. There are, however, a few classes particularly in the “issue” classes during the year when military students mix with civilian students, to the benefit of both.
Classes taken in the fall and spring semester are classes offered by the Newhouse school to undergraduates. Some classes may be modified for the military, for example, high level of video camera competency is taken into account, so little or no time is spent on camera operation.
The schedule is very, very intense. You work weekends and spend some nights in the edit suites or computer labs. There is little free time during the ten months you are at Newhouse. When you complete your studies at Newhouse, you will be considered among the best in your career field.