Summer Springboard
Journalism & Digital Communication
ON THE CAMPUS OF BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
LEARN TO TELL STORIES THAT MATTER AND MAKE SURE THE WORLD SEES THEM, FROM THE NEWSROOM TO YOUR SOCIAL FEED.
THIS IS A TWO-WEEK PROGRAM WHERE YOU’LL FOCUS ON ONE COURSE FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION.
Journalism & Digital Communication @ Barnard College
- Write, edit, and fact-check news stories using the same AP style professional journalists use.
- Interview sources and learn how to identify and pitch stories that matter.
- Discover how news outlets and brands reach their audiences through social media and influencer marketing.
- Create a content calendar and social campaign for your own digital news brand.
- Build a personal brand and online presence that showcases your strengths.
- Report on deadline at a simulated press conference, then pitch your news brand.
Summer Springboard
Journalism & Digital Communication
About This Course
Every great story needs an audience. In this two-week course, students learn both sides of modern media: how to report and write the news, and how to get it noticed in a crowded digital world. Students practice the core skills of journalism, from finding a story and interviewing sources to writing in AP style and checking every fact. They then step into the world of digital communication, learning how newsrooms and brands use audience targeting, storytelling, and social media to build loyal followings. Working in teams, students launch their own mini digital news brand, and the course ends with a simulated press conference and a pitch of their brand.
TOPICS YOU'LL EXPLORE
Hands-on Learning
Students write ledes and rewrite stories in AP style, conduct interviews, edit and fact-check each other’s work, and pitch their own story ideas. As a team, they build a news brand, plan a social media campaign and content calendar to promote their reporting, and finish by covering a simulated press conference on deadline.
Career Exploration
Students explore careers in journalism, broadcasting, social media, marketing, public relations, and communications. They learn how strong writing and communication skills apply to almost any field, and they build a personal brand and LinkedIn presence they can use for college and career opportunities.
RESOURCES
Course Infosheet
Click here to view or download the printable infosheet for this course.
Program Catalog
Click here to request our catalog to learn more about our summer programs and courses.
Campus Page
Click here to view the website page for this campus and learn more.
“My experience here was amazing. I got to have an insight into what college will be like with the classes, dorms, and students. I got to be exposed to a whole variety of different things like going on excursions, meeting different people, and seeing tourist attractions. I also got to have an insight into a career that I’m interested in.”
Jackie T. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Journalism & Digital Communication
Meet Your Instructor
Max Kalnitz is a digital marketing and social media professional with over five years of experience in social media strategy and eight years as an award-winning multimedia journalist, with work published in national and local outlets. He specializes in TikTok marketing, audience growth, and content performance, and actively manages and scales social media accounts across platforms including TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
Max has led international teams of content creators and interns, overseen more than 20 social media channels, and provided creative direction for major brand campaigns including Prime Day, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and holiday launches. He has collaborated on large-scale product rollouts and brand partnerships with companies such as Walmart, Target, Peanuts, HelloFresh, and Trader Joe’s. He has successfully launched and grown TikTok accounts from the ground up, generating millions of views and driving measurable sales growth through viral content.
Max holds a master’s degree from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and a bachelor’s degree from the University at Buffalo. He brings an analytical, practical, and industry-informed approach to teaching digital marketing and social media to high school students.
MAX KALNITZ
“It was great here. Almost everything was perfect and I genuinely feel that I gained something from this. I finally know what I want to do in life and want to work hard for it.”
-Malcolm C. | Alumni Student
Summer Springboard
Journalism & Digital Communication
Dates & Tuition
| 2027 Dates |
|---|
| Session 2: July 18 – July 30, 2027 |
Click here to enroll in this course using our online enrollment form.
| Tuition |
|---|
| Residential Tuition: $5,998* |
| Commuter Tuition: $3,298* |
*Apply by November 30 to lock in the lowest prices of the year. Tuition increases on December 1.
Tuition Protection Plan: Allows for cancellation for any reason up until the day of the program.
| Location |
|---|
| City: New York City |
| State: New York |
| Campus: Barnard College |
Summer Springboard programs are not run by our campus partners (with the exception of Cal Poly and NYSID which are run in partnership with SSB). Universities and their affiliated departments and partners do not control and are not responsible or liable in any manner for any part of the Summer Springboard program.