Arts Journalism Master

New degree course at the Institute for Arts Management and Media

Get involved!

Everyone is talking. In foyers, tweets and talk shows. About world views, opinions and positions. Everyone is talking – and cultural journalists are talking all the time. They inspire, moderate, criticise the debates of society.

What do we talk about when we talk about art and culture? What does canon mean, who does it exclude? Will AIs compose our pop songs in the future? Or become tricksters between fact and fake? What language, what images, what expression do we find to name what enlightens or disturbs us? How do series change cinematic narration? Are glitches in games already poetry?

If you want to work in arts journalism, you have to keep a cool head in the stream of data, languages and symbols. Attitude and curiosity, speed and humour, creativity and wild thinking are required to untangle the linguistic confusion of our present.
The new Master degree course in Arts Journalism at the University of Music and Theatre Munich in cooperation with the Theaterakademie August Everding responds comprehensively to the changes in the media. As the only cultural journalism degree course in the German-speaking world, it combines art analysis, journalistic craft and media innovation.

We are interested in applicants who are curious and knowledgeable about theatre, music, film, literature, dance, visual arts, photography and architecture. Who do not avoid the tension between tradition and technical progress. Who are eager to constantly expand their cultural horizons. Who have an interest in debating with the public. And who use the latest technologies to work knowledgeably, intelligently and argumentatively on all channels as self-confident cultural journalists for the appropriate visibility of cultural reporting in the media.

We offer two years of in-depth and practical training in all media formats. At the University of Music and Theatre Munich with its degree courses for artists, you will study in a cosmos of creative vitality and inspiration. The lecturers come from journalistic practice. Together with regional and national media companies as cooperation partners, as well as through a mentoring programme, we guarantee the development of networks and contacts for a successful start to your career.

Further documents as well as the link to our application platform can be found on the degree course page in our degree course section (click here). Editorial content on the degree course can be found at: https://kulturjournalismus-muenchen.de/.

Information on the degree course

How is the degree course structured?

The four-semester full-time degree course is made up of 12 modules. All modules consist of several courses with final module examinations. The degree course has a total workload of 120 ECTS credits.

1) Art and Culture
2) Critics Labs: Art and Culture in Discourse
3) Journalistic Tools I: Forms of Representation
4) Journalistic Tools II: Cross-media formats and Journalism 4.0
5) Workshop I: The cross-media media house – focus on text
6) Workshop II: The cross-media media house – focus on audio
7) Workshop III: The cross-media media house – focus on audio-video
8) Workshop IV: The own digital platform
9) Journalism | Communication Studies
10) Founders Lab
11) Practice and networking
12) Final module

4 semesters
Full-time studies, starts every year in the winter semester

120 ECTS
Various academic achievements in the form of journalistic contributions, written examinations, term papers, presentations and a Master’s thesis

12 modules
Each module comprises several thematically related courses.

Examinations
journalistic contributions, papers, assignments, written examinations, practical projects, presentations

Final Exam
The final examination consists of a Master’s thesis and its disputation in the form of an oral examination of 30 minutes. The Master’s thesis can either be a journalistic piece of work or a theoretical-scientific work; the topic can be chosen freely, but must have a connection to cultural journalism and meet journalistic or scientific standards.
What professional fields can I enter after graduation?
The degree course qualifies students for journalistic and editorial work in media companies in a variety of positions and contexts.
- Arts journalist
- Editor
- Media producer
- Author
- Programme planner
- Presenter
- Development Editor
- Social media / community editor
- Entrepreneurship / Self-employment
- Employers: Newspaper and magazine publishers, broadcasters, TV stations, production companies (video, audio, print, web), news agencies
How and by when do I apply?

Who?
The degree course is aimed at students who, based on a great passion for artistic and cultural topics, would like to participate professionally in cultural discourse and who value specialisation in this field in a journalistic education.

How?
A pre-selection is made on the basis of the written application. The selected applicants will be invited to a two-day entrance examination in Munich in July, during which they will have to write a commentary on a given topic and develop a concept for the innovative media implementation of a given cultural topic in group work. In addition, each applicant will have an individual interview with the examination committee.

Requirements
Admission to the Master degree course in Arts Journalism requires a first university degree with professional qualification (e.g. Bachelor degree) or an equivalent degree from Germany or abroad as well as successful participation in an entrance examination. The degree course can only be taken up in the winter semester.

When?
The application for the entrance examination for the following winter semester must be submitted online via the application platform of the University of Music and Theatre Munich by 31 May each year (cut-off deadline).

Further information about the application process can be found here: https://hmtm.de/bewerben.

You can go directly to the application platform here: https://zulassung.hmtm.de/campus/campus/Portal/Start