The Silha Center

The Silha Center was established in 1984 with a grant from Otto and Helen Silha. The Center’s primary function is to conduct research in areas where legal and ethical issues converge and to monitor changes in law or in journalistic practice that may result. The Center mounts an endowed annual public lecture and also sponsors forums on a variety of topics. Privacy, arts criticism, confidential sources, ethical issues in business and political reporting, “sweeps month” mentality in reporting, and the law and ethics affecting film restoration are among topics covered in recent years.

The Center funds graduate student research, publishes the Bulletin, a quarterly newsletter, cosponsors Media Ethics, a national newsletter published at Emerson College, and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Cornerstone Project, a public awareness and education program aimed at celebrating the First Amendment. In 2001, the Silha Center co-authored an amicus brief in Universal City Studios, Inc.v. Reimerdes, an important First Amendment case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The Silha Center also provides information and comment to scholars and media professionals, both nationally and internationally. It offers print, audio, and video copies of the annual lectures, media law and ethics bibliographies, and a number of publications from the now-defunct National News Council. A compilation of the Council’s determinations is also available through the Center.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) has been ranked in several national surveys as among the foremost journalism schools in the United States. Faculty members are recognized for their teaching and scholarship in a variety of journalistic fields; most include professional media experience in their backgrounds.

SJMC is part of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Journalism and Mass Communication. Providing undergraduate and graduate education to more than 1,000 students, the reputation of the School and faculty attracts outstanding Master’s and Doctoral candidates, whose professional and academic experience is also utilized in teaching in the School.

In addition to the Silha Center, several other centers are housed within the school: the Minnesota Journalism Center, which is the primary sponsor of outreach programs to foster interaction with journalism and mass communication professionals to ensure exchange of knowledge and experience; the China Times Center for Media and Social Studies, which conducts studies of the relationship between culture, politics and the media in China and East Asia; and the Institute for New Media Studies which was established in 2000 to create new knowledge and deepen the understanding of the uses, technologies and effects of new media.

Located within the Twin Cities, the United States’ sixth largest media market, students at SJMC will find they have many opportunities to further their academic experience with professional opportunities.