Cronkite School

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The Cronkite School as seen from Central Avenue
Type	Public
Established	1941 (as ASU English Department- Division of Journalism)
Dean	Christopher Callahan
Academic staff	25
Students	1,700
Location	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Campus	Arizona State University
Website	cronkite.asu.edu

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculties), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and named in honor of veteran broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite. The school, which is located at the downtown Phoenix campus, offers programs leading to a bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, master of mass communication, and in fall 2011, the school launched its first journalism and mass communication doctoral program.

The Cronkite School began as the Division of Journalism under the ASU's English Department in 1949, 18 years after ASU began to offer journalism courses to its students, in 1931. The school began to expand in 1954, when radio and television journalism courses were made available. The entire Division of Journalism was elevated to department by the University in 1957, and changed its name to Department of Mass Communication. The school moved from its original location at Old Main to what is now the Academic Services building at ASU Tempe in 1969.

In 1974 the school received its national accreditation and moved into the Stauffer Hall building. The school was later renamed Department of Journalism and Telecommunication and became a part of the new College of Public Programs in 1979. Stauffer Hall would serve as the school's home until August 2008, when the school moved to its current location in Downtown Phoenix.

In 1981, the Cronkite School began to offer master's degrees to its students. A year later, the school established a student radio station, The Blaze, as a place for prospective students to mature their skills (The State Press used to fulfill that role, but it became independent in the '70s). In 1984, the school was renamed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication in honor of the veteran news reporter. At the same time, the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence was established.

In 1989, a professional news program produced by the school's students began production, and later evolved into the well-known Cronkite NewsWatch TV news program.

In 2001, the school voted to change its name to Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The school received independent school status in 2004. The school chose Christopher Callahan as its founding dean in 2005. A year later, the school established the Cronkite News Service for advanced journalism students to distribute TV and print stories to various professional media.