Specializing in communications once meant designing ad campaigns, drafting press releases or storyboarding a TV broadcast. The digital revolution changed the field—marketers started delivering and tracking ad campaigns online, PR specialists began integrating social media into communications strategies. Journalists started breaking news on Twitter and using video to enhance their stories, and managers developed ways to coordinate multiple creative teams across a variety of offices.
Today, communications careers are still changing. Artificial intelligence is changing the way news is produced, and virtual reality is enhancing the consumer experience. With Instagram stories and Facebook Live, brands and companies can reach their audiences with moment-by-moment updates. Jobs in communication offer many different paths, and graduates may find a variety of positions ranging from management to media occupations.
The online Master’s in Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications can prepare you to pursue a range of communications careers across the media industry. In fact, 43 percent of students reported starting a new job within 12 months of completing the program.* We offer four specializations—advertising, public relations, journalism innovation, and media management—to help you calibrate your studies and explore your interests.
The above self-reported information is from a survey with 102 respondents who have graduated from the online M.S. in Communications program since 2015. Forty-three percent reported that they started a new job three, six or 12 months after graduation.
Keep pace with the changing media landscape and help drive innovation with the Master of Science in Communications online from Newhouse.
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Careers in Advertising
Careers in Public Relations
Careers in Journalism
Careers in Media Management
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Advertisements are everywhere—in our social media feeds and e-mail inboxes, in the middle of podcasts and before YouTube videos play. A single ad can follow you between devices, from your Facebook newsfeed on a desktop to between Instagram stories on your mobile device. Behind each ad is a team of specialists who market the product and cultivate its brand.
Companies need communications professionals who can shape branded content into messages that engage an audience. Professionals in these communications careers have the potential to turn customers into ambassadors for the organization and its mission.
Advertising and marketing managers earn a median annual wage of $141,490 as of 2020, and employment of managers will grow faster than average over the coming decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Brand managers lead the development of content that promotes a product or service. They develop and uphold standards and protocols that pertain to a given brand and act as a reliable resource for any associated stakeholders.
Common Duties: Managing client accounts, creating and managing budgets, evaluating and analyzing research to define target audiences, developing consumer insights, writing and presenting compelling communications strategies
Social media specialists develop, improve and maintain a brand’s reputation in a variety of digital channels. They take advantage of innovative online platforms to expand trust and recognition of a brand among their target audience.
Common Duties: Using and developing production techniques, such as A/B testing; monitoring audience acquisition; working with content management systems and building content strategies
Agency Account Executive:
Link clients with an agency’s creative team; ensure the writers and designers understand the client’s brand and the client is satisfied with the branded product provided.
Digital Strategist:
Develop comprehensive strategies for companies and brands to engage with their audiences online—through websites, ad campaigns and more.
Search Engine Marketer:
Increase a company’s website visibility on search engine results pages through advertising and analysis.
E-Commerce Manager:
Supervise the online sales and e-commerce department of a company with a significant online presence.
Marketing Manager:
Execute a company or client’s marketing strategy; coordinate the internal teams that enact the plan and troubleshoot when issues arise.
Media Planner:
Identify and implement marketing strategies using a combination of media platforms that will best promote a company or client’s brand or product.
Product Manager:
Develop products from concept to market through researching the audience, testing the design, and promoting and improving the product.
E-Mail Marketing Manager:
Coordinate a company’s e-mail campaigns; monitor how each message performs and determine best practices for reaching consumers.
How will you craft your brand identity? Learn how a master’s in
communications from the Newhouse School can jump-start your
career.
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Careers in Advertising
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Consumers today receive a constant feed of information—from Twitter and Snapchat, search engines and news sites, and blogs and e-mail newsletters. On every platform, with every communication, a company communicates its brand. This makes communications careers in public relations—the crafting of intentional public communication—an essential function of any organization.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the employment of specialists in the field of public relations to increase 7 percent by 2029, particularly as social media becomes more integrated into consumers’ daily lives.
Public relations managers lead teams that plan and create various forms of content designed to enhance the public perception of an organization or brand. These professionals manage the voice and point of view of an organization.
Common Duties: Developing an organization’s corporate image and identity, identifying audiences and determining the best way to reach them, helping clients handle media inquiries and effectively communicate with the public
An events manager plans, coordinates and leads events on behalf of a brand or organization. This includes communicating an organization’s goals and needs, managing budgets, monitoring details and ensuring deadlines are met.
Common Duties: Managing event budgets and timelines, balancing needs of different stakeholders from brand strategists to interior decorators, traveling to sites and project-managing events
Investor Relations Manager:
Manage communications between a company’s leadership and its investors, helping both parties make informed financial decisions.
Corporate Affairs Manager:
Partner with a client, whether an individual or an organization, to create a positive public image through media and marketing.
Corporate Communications Director:
Coordinate a company’s communications with the public and manage its relationship with the press.
Communications Manager:
Plan, implement and monitor the communications both inside and outside of an organization.
Nonprofit Manager:
Run a nonprofit’s business and financial operations, from building relationships with donors to developing programming for fundraisers.
Development Director:
Raise funds for a company’s community and philanthropic efforts, often working with a chief financial officer or treasurer.
Community Manager:
Cultivate relationships between a company and consumers, helping to turn potential customers into brand ambassadors.
Learn how Newhouse’s PR specialization can help you lead your
organization’s communications strategy.
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Careers in Advertising
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Careers in Journalism
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Journalism is among the many evolving and necessary communications careers. Journalists who produce high-quality, digital content and understand the ethics of the field are essential to any media organization.
Competition for jobs with established media companies, newspapers and magazines is strong. With a master’s in communications specialized in journalism innovation, you can set yourself apart and build the skills you need to stay ahead of emerging trends and technology.
Web content managers lead teams that design, develop and monitor the information that appears on a company’s website. Working closely with project teams, editors, developers and designers, they produce an online presence that is optimized for an organization’s specific audience.
Common Duties: Navigating media law, employing data journalism practices, utilizing electronic publishing software, web design tools and multimedia applications
As a visual storyteller, a photojournalist captures, edits and presents images or videos that communicate or enhance experiences. Photojournalists can work for organizations or independently and often travel frequently to be at the heart of pressing global issues.
Common Duties: Photographing people and events on assignment editing photos, collaborating with writers, editors and graphic designers
Copywriter:
Shape a company’s brand through messaging that inspires; create web content, advertisements and/or e-mail campaigns.
Producer:
Build a cohesive newscast from the stories of the day, combining the graphic and written elements of each piece and coordinating with the studio crew.
Content Editor:
Develop appealing journalistic stories and resources that are optimized for web production.
Production Manager:
Ensure that television, new media or film and theater production occurs on time and on budget.
Communications Editor:
Manage a staff of writers, editors, designers and photographers that creates the articles and visual pieces published by an organization.
Investigative Journalist:
Investigate news-related or human interest stories across a range of topics; conduct research and on-site interviews.
Multimedia Specialist:
Develop and design multimedia products, including motion graphics and long-form videos, that support a company’s brand and business goals.
Advertising Copywriter:
Write copy specifically for advertisements, from print materials to social media messaging.
Learn how an online master’s in communications from Newhouse can move you toward your ideal career—whether you’re a seasoned journalist or a professional outside the field looking to break in.
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Careers in Advertising
Careers in Public Relations
Careers in Journalism
Careers in Media Management
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People with communications careers as media managers are responsible for overseeing large-scale communications projects and can work across a wide range of industries—including advertising, sports and entertainment, public relations and business—in an increasingly global workplace.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the overall employment of advertising, promotions and marketing managers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2019 to 2029, faster than the average for all occupations.
Marketing managers lead teams in media organizations to promote and position a brand or product that a company sells. The goal of a marketing manager is typically to raise brand awareness, promote a specific event or discover new ways that a company can attract customers to purchase a given product.
Common Duties: Leading diverse teams, negotiating advertising contracts, developing pricing strategies, collaborating with clients, planning creative advertising campaigns
Media planning managers work within media organizations or advertising agencies and manage the crafting of ad campaigns as well as explore the most effective avenues of marketing for a particular product or brand. Also known as brand planners or brand strategists, media planning managers typically work directly with clients to help them make important business decisions about their campaigns.
Common Duties: Advising and reporting findings to clients, analyzing effective advertising channels and strategies, exploring the costs and benefits of a particular campaign
Senior Magazine/News Editor:
Help publish and produce media such as newsletters, newspapers, magazines, podcasts or websites.
Director of Integrated Marketing:
Drive collaboration across a variety of marketing teams to meet marketing goals and solve problems standing in the way of product or brand growth.
Senior Multimedia Producer:
Create and oversee the filming, recording and editing of multimedia projects for commercials, podcasts or other online advertisements.
Social Media Manager:
Represent a brand, product or company across a wide range of social media channels and grow their online reach or presence.
Head of Digital Delivery:
Manage the creation and execution of digital content as well as make important decisions regarding how that content should be delivered to the consumer.
Media Publisher:
Oversee the distribution of digital content such as websites, interactive web pages, videos, podcasts and blogs for a company or brand.
Explore how Newhouse’s Media Management specialization can help you lead diverse teams in media.
Beyond advertising, public relations and journalism, there are a wide array of communications careers that utilize the broad range of digital communications principles, techniques and strategies that are developed in a graduate communications program.
The online Master’s in Communications from the Newhouse School can prepare you to work across a range of career areas in the industry, including:
When you earn a Master of Science in Communications from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, you join some of the most powerful and successful communications professionals in the world.
As a student, you will have full access to the Newhouse Career Development Center. Our staff will work with you one-on-one to coordinate your job search, perfect your resume and cover letters, prepare for interviews and make professional connections in your field.
You will also gain access to the Newhouse Network, our database of more than 28,000 alumni and an invaluable resource as you build your career.
*The above self-reported information is from a survey with 102 respondents who have graduated from the online M.S. in Communications program since 2015. Forty-three percent reported that they started a new job three, six or 12 months after graduation.
1 Bureau of Labor Statics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Advertising, Promotions and Marketing Managers (Retrieved September 2020)arrow_upwardReturn to footnote reference
2 Bureau of Labor Statics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Public Relations Specialists (Retrieved September 2020)arrow_upwardReturn to footnote reference
