Our values, our claim: The mission statement of the School of Journalism

The JS (School of Journalism) attaches great importance to good teaching and intensive student support. It thrives on the commitment of faculty, students and all staff members. The JS promotes good ideas and projects where it can, even beyond the formal curriculum. The JS expects faculty and students to be passionate about good journalism.

For us, the combination of theory and practice is key, we frequently engage in exchanges with journalists from various media. Todether we implement joint projects. The JS keeps in touch with newsrooms and media organizations, but it also maintains a critical distance. The JS and its employees attach great importance to their academic and journalistic autonomy.

The JS stands for a substantial and responsible quality journalism that is aware of its public task and its importance for democracy. The Journalistic Seminar stands for a journalism that informs, enlightens, promotes growth. Ethical sensitivity and reflection on one’s own role are central to the JS and its understanding of journalism. The JS upholds proven standards in journalism and is open to innovation. It stands for contemporary journalism with substance.

The JS sees a fundamental difference between journalism and PR. There must be no blurring of the differences. The JS sees itself as a scientific institution where research is conducted on topics of journalism and public communication. In addition to basic research, scientific findings that are of direct relevance to journalistic practice or that stimulate social discourse about media, journalism, democracy and the public sphere are also important to the JS.

The JS supports its employees, it facilitates advanced training and creates free space for scientific and journalistic qualification.

The atmosphere at the JS should be the same as that which characterizes good editorial offices: openness, curiosity, tolerance, team spirit, and constructive debate oriented toward the cause and common goals. The JS respects social diversity and strives for diversity itself, for example with regard to the social and ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or political attitudes of students and staff.

The JS is part of the Mainz Department of Communication (Institut für Publizistik, IfP) and sees great opportunities in the exchange and cooperation with colleagues there, not least in teaching and research. For the JS, cooperation with other institutes and departments is also valuable, for example with film studies and other media subjects.

The JS follows a social science orientation in journalism research and the social science profile that is constitutive for the Department of Communication (Institut für Publizistik, IfP), but is also open to other perspectives, for example from the classical humanities and film and media studies. At the JS, a variety of scientific perspectives, methods and “schools” are possible.

The transfer of knowledge and the impact on society are important to the JS. It is engaged in and for public events and it promotes exchanges, for example, with schools and civil society organizations.

International contacts and transnational perspectives are important to the JS. This applies not only to its Transnational Journalism degree program, but to all areas of the JS. Where it can, the JS promotes international exchange among students and staff.