The president and director of EL ESPAÑOL, Pedro J. Ramirezhas decided that four of the 14 students of the first promotion of the Master of Journalism of this newspaper and the Camilo José Cela University will be part of the editorial team at the end of their internship period, which ends the last week of September.
The potential of the selected students and the work carried out during these 12 months of Masters were decisive in what, for many, will be their first contract as journalists.
In March 2023, when EL ESPAÑOL announced the creation of a Master in Journalism by the UCJCthe director of the main Spanish newspaper said: “journalism is a relay race and the EL ESPAÑOL Master is the guarantee of the continuity of our project”.
“A project,” he continues, “which, in some way, began 43 years ago. And not only because in 1980 I was appointed director of Journal 16but because when the Constitution of 78 came into force, we were able to start practicing journalism in complete freedom.”
During the year that the course lasted, the Master’s students heard many times that there is no real journalism without freedom of publication or without ethical and responsible conduct on the part of journalists.
ÇJAvier Carbajal, head of photography and video editing at EL ESPAÑOL, teaches students how to work with drones.
Madrid
The Master of Journalism in the first class thus becomes a success with nearly 30% of students hired by the newspaper promoting postgraduate studies, -exactly 28.5%-. Precisely, the words employability and usefulness were very present in the mind of the creator and first director of this Master, the journalist, from the start of the writing. Miguel Angel Mellado.
“The fact that EL ESPAÑOL is hiring four students is important, but it is even more important that many other members of the first class are ready to be part of whatever newsroom they enter,” says Mellado. “Our Master is a master of masters and the students are multimedia, capable of producing information, a report, a podcast, a live… In short, they can be useful for their versatility in different types of writing,” adds the seasoned journalist.
The four students will be chosen based on the level demonstrated in the two cycles of the Master: the six months on campus, in the Journalism Workshop, from October 2023 to March 2024, plus six additional months of writing the newspaper. Pedro J. Ramirezwhich now end, from April 2024 to next September.
Pedro J. Ramírez and Miguel Ángel Mellado during the master’s degree in 2023.
Javier Carbajal
The commitment of this Master in Journalism was to hire at least two of the registered students. They will be doublefour, which is unprecedented in Spain’s declining information market.
This advantage is due, in addition to the capacity and efforts of the students, to the expansion of the EL ESPAÑOL publishing house, which in 2024 distributed benefits for the first time, as announced by the general director of the newspaper , Mamen Vázquezat the last general meeting of shareholders.
Behind the growth of the main Spanish newspaper is its informative dynamism, as its editor-in-chief underlines: Mario Diaz. Also to its territorial expansion, giving meaning to the name of the capital during the making of Spain.
In recent years, local and regional editions have opened across the country, from Galicia to Andalusia.
Precisely, the local and regional connection of a national newspaper like EL ESPAÑOL will be another opportunity for the students of the second promotion of this Master in Journalism, which begins next October 14.
El Español Masters students with Reports editor David Palomo.
During the internship period, from April to September 2025, aspiring journalists will be able to choose editorial offices located in other autonomous communitiesnot just in Madrid. This can help students’ finances, given the rising cost of housing in the Spanish capital. The Master of Journal and University Camilo José This also offers scholarships and discounts.
The postgraduate diploma in journalism from EL ESPAÑOL made it possible to realize what is almost an axiom in the profession: what is really difficult when you dedicate yourself to information is to have the opportunity to walk through the door of an editorial office. The six months of internship are a security that is so often impossible to have at hand.
This six-month internship opportunity is not offered by all competing master’s degrees. The differentiating aspect of this journal’s offering is, on the one hand, that the teachers are, for the most part, credible journalists in the profession despite their youth and, secondly, that the editorial office of the journal is neither very small, where there is no time to learn, nor very large, where newcomers do not receive the attention necessary for an enthusiastic beginner.
The Master of Journalism EL ESPAÑOL will refresh its content compared to the previous course: it will be even more multimedia, with more practical courses on Artificial Intelligence, Social Networks, Podcast and camera, but also with a more in-depth load on quality journalism, the exclusives -with the incorporation of Manuel Cerdán-, war reports -with the signature of Antonio Pampliega-, with more data journalism….
In short: the Master offers the same quality of journalism as the multimedia journalism of yesterday and today. With practical courses focused on usefulness and employability, as proven by the success of the first promotion of the Master.
