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Mass Media
During the recent years
mass media has invaded the life of a common man in a big way.
Upto seventies, mass media mainly remained confined to
cinema, newspaper and radio. It was in the early eighties
that audio-visual electronic medium in the form of television
invaded the Indian scenario in a big way. The Government
created huge infrastructure for spread of television network
in the country. During this decade itself, advent of
computers and Video Cassette Recorders (VCR) also
supplemented the audio-visual media, putting well established
medium of cinema to shade. During the early nineties,
satellite television revolutionised the audio-visual media by
reaching most of the households in the urban areas.
The latest invasion of audio-visual electronic media has
suddenly increased the demand for professionals in
journalism, technicians and other service individuals. These
careers not only offer excellent opportunities, salaries,
challenge and satisfaction of work, but also provide an
opportunity for self-employment in various fields.
Print Media
An old saying goes "pen is mightier than sword". The saying
is not just a rhetoric. It reflects the power of print media.
Being the most important media, print media pertains to broad
activity of publication of newspapers, magazines and books
and all persons connected with this activity have their
contribution in successful running of this medium. While
writing of books and contributing to magazines is largely a
self-employment occupation, publication of newspapers and
magazines involves a huge work force such as editors,
technicians, printing technicians, composers, etc.
In all these jobs the options of either working on desk or
working in the field are available to the candidates.
Reporters and correspondents generally operate in the field
and submit their reports or stories on local, national or
international issues pertaining to politics, trade, commerce,
defence, sports, etc. One special category of reporters and
correspondents operates in the field of investigative
journalism. This category of reporting pertains to
investigation on the issues of public importance. This type
of journalism and reporting attracts public attention
instantaneously. Special attention in such reporting is
required in the authenticity of information, selection of
issues of public interest and succinct reporting in
interesting and convincing language. In case of magazine
reporting, many a times the reports, stories and features are
contributed by free-lance reporters and part-time amateur
writers.
To pursue the career as a reporter one may attain bachelor's
degree or post-graduate diploma in journalism. Some of the
universities offer post graduate diplomas of 9-month duration
while others offer post-graduate one-year diploma in Public
Relations or post graduate degree in mass-communication.
Latest trend in this regard is that big groups of newspapers
advertise the posts of trainees in any of the above
categories for which all graduates are eligible. After
conducting the entrance examination, suitable graduate
trainees, with flair for writing are selected and employed.
In other words, now the formal academic qualification for
being a reporter, copy writer or correspondent is not an
essential qualification.
Similarly, for writing features or analytical articles in
magazines, one need not have any formal and professional
academic qualification. What is required is in-depth
knowledge, command over the language concerned and
outstanding analytical capability. Broadly speaking, anyone
keen to pursue this career in any capacity must have
outstanding general awareness, good perception, an eye for
details and very keen observation. In turn, the career offers
challenge, immense job satisfaction and fairly good
compensation.
For acquiring general awareness regular reading of
newspapers, magazines and books on variety of topics is a
must. Discussions on current topics also go a long way in
widening the horizons of knowledge. For the beginners, it is
better to consult a good book on the background to current
affairs so that further knowledge is strengthened after
acquiring fundamental knowledge. Latest edition of "Current
Affairs and Backgrounders" published by M/s Khanna Brothers
(Publishers) Pvt Ltd is an ideal book for this purpose.
Command over the concerned language is not a capability which
can be acquired overnight. Regular and intensive reading as
well as regular writing practice not only improves the
command over the language, but also improves the flair for
writing. Candidates seriously pursuing this career should
also go in for academic degree/diploma in Journalism/Public
Relations/Mass Communication from a good university or
institute to have an edge over others.
Audio-Visual Media
The requirement of personnel for the audio and audio-visual
media is a little different than that for the print media.
Traditionally, Radio has been the audio media having farthest
reach. It was only with effect from the early eighties that
Radio started getting replaced by Television. In most of the
cases TV just supplemented the Radio. Despite the recent
invasion by Doordarshan channels and Satellite and Cable TV,
importance of Radio has not been undermined. The percentage
of population covered by Radio is much more than the TV,
mainly due to better technical infrastructure, longer range
of short wave radio and cheaper cost and running cost of
radio and transistors. Hence, Radio still remains very
important medium. Radio needs various types of personnel
which includes announcers, news-readers, news-composers,
writers, producers, commentators, and various categories of
radio artists like singers, musicians, drama artists,
narrators, etc. There is also a growing demand for good
programmes and producers of such programmes.
Audio-visual media is the strongest form of medium, but has
limited reach. The earliest form of audio-visual medium was
cinema which had very limited reach and people had to spend
some money to have an access to it. Cinema, however, still
enjoys the most glamorous place in the entire media. In this
feature, Cinema as career in audio-visual media has been left
out and will be covered later in a separate feature on
careers. Television, satellite and cable TV offer varied
opportunities for career seekers. This medium offers
excellent opportunities for newsreaders, composers,
announcers, technicians, commentators, producers, models,
actors, cameramen, script writers, etc. In addition to the
Government-run Doordarshan, all other companies in the field
of television, be it in production, direction, acting, cable
operation and satellite TV operation, are handled by the
individuals or private companies. The choice of career is
available in a variety of fields, not only with Doordarshan
but with commercially-run media companies also. Candidates
seeking any type of career in audio-visual electronic media
must have characteristics like artistic inclination,
expertise in own field of activity, pleasing personality,
adaptability, general awareness, quick reflexes, flexibility
and imagination. All these qualities must be coupled with the
required technical and academic qualifications and
professional competence. In case of announcers and
newsreaders the qualities of good voice and presentable and
photogenic face are additional requirements. Good flow of
spoken language and command over the language concerned are
also pre-requisites in these cases. Capabilities to compare
and compose become added qualifications.
In addition to programmes and news, three other aspects of
advertisement, engineering and management are also of
paramount importance in TV and other electronic media.
Technical and professional staff provide engineering services
and act from behind the screen. These personnel are
responsible for providing support services so essential for
good quality of transmission, colour combinations, creation
of support infra-structure for transmission, day-to-day
management of video recording, time-management and other
related aspects.
How to Join
Career in News-reading and announcing does not require any
professional or technical qualifications. Any simple graduate
with good command over the language, with pleasing face and
personality, accurate pronunciation and a good voice can hope
to enter this career. Experience of stage and theatre also
helps a candidate. Most important of all these qualities is
the aptitude for a particular job and keen interest in it.
To provide technical support service, trainee Transmission
Executives are recruited. The recruitment for trainee
Transmission Executives is made by the Staff Selection
Commission (SSC). SSC holds a selection test and all
candidates who are between 18 to 25 years of age and have
diploma from National School of Drama (NSD) and Film and
Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune are eligible to
take test. After selection, trainee Transmission Executives
are made responsible for making timely transmission of
scheduled programmes. They are also expected to ensure proper
quality of transmission. This is achieved by properly
conceptualising the programme, their timings and ensuring
technical precision. Transmission Executives may rise to the
levels of Programme Executive, Assistant Station Director or
even Station Directors. The higher level managerial posts are
held by the officers of Central Information Service
(Group-A). Recruitment to this service is made by the
combined Civil Services Examination which is held by the
Union Public Service Commission every year. It is one of the
allied services in this examination and recruitment for this
service takes place every year. Officers from this service
also hold senior level posts in All India Radio and in the
Department of Information and Broadcasting.
In addition, technical positions like cameramen, makeupmen,
video technicians, editors, etc need specific technical
qualifications and specific experience in the related fields.
List of prominent institutes
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
JNU Campus, New Delhi Indira Gandhi National Open University
Maidan Garhi, New Delhi - 68
Jamia Milla Islamia Media Centre
Jamia Nagar, Okhla, New Delhi Mudra Institute of
Communications
Shela, Ahmedabad 380 051
Asian Academy of Film & Television
Marwah Studio, Film City, Noida Imago Acting School
Brahma Studio, Film City, Noida
Besides the above, all State Universities offer courses on
Journalism and Mass Communication
Journalism
Journalism fascinates many young people who have a keen
desire of seeing their name in print. Anyone who has written
something for the college paper believes a career in
journalism can be pursued. This feature points out that a
career in journalism means more than merely writing well.
As we receive a number of queries from our readers who want
to become famous journalists and editors, we decided to
describe in detail the requirements of newspapers and
television channels today. This feature describes the skills
required, as also the upside and the downside of the field.
It also gives information about how one can become a
journalist, the qualities that are required to be a
successful one and addresses of some of the well known
institutes.
To an outsider, journalism is an exciting field in which fame
and fortune can be achieved if one is able to write well. The
names of some famous journalists come easily to mind.
Khushwant Singh, who writes columns in several newspapers;
M.J. Akbar, the editor of The Asian Age; and Shobha De,
former editor of Stardust and now a celebrated writer.
Opportunities in the field have also multiplied with the boom
in magazines and television channels. Each of these requires
people who can report and interpret events in a coherent and
interesting manner.
To assess whether you can be a famous journalist, you have to
first know the skills that are required. The first is a good
command over language. You must be able to express yourself
well. A course in journalism will help sharpen these skills.
But this is not all. What is required is the ability to
collect information and report events quickly. If you are in
a television channel, it may mean going on camera as the
event is happening, often a difficult task. In newspapers one
has to write out the story before the deadline and it must
contain all the correct information and the drama. Even a
small error can destroy the credibility of the journalist. So
journalism is just not about being able to write well alone.
The nature of a journalist's job is also changing. With news
becoming competitive and personality-oriented, the job of a
TV journalist often means waiting outside the offices or
homes of politicians for hours and trying to catch a "sound
byte" as the leader comes out. The pursuit of truth does not
extend beyond getting a small segment in the news programme.
In this race, there is no room for being creative or
following stories that one may like to. Threats of law-suits
have made news channels and newspapers increasingly wary
about publishing scoops and many of the investigative stories
are just killed. There is little room for creativity in
today's news organisations.
Increasing scope
Once you accept these limitations, a career in journalism may
be a good option. Some years back there was a boom in
television channels which led to an increase in opportunities
for aspiring journalists. Many print journalists shifted to
television. Salaries had jumped. Today, there is a shakeout
among the channels, which has led to the opportunities being
reduced drastically. Newspapers and magazines continue to
employ journalists, but with circulations and profitability
under stress, three has been a decrease in opportunities
somewhat. However, this situation may be linked to the
economic slowdown and things may become better once the
economy picks up. It may be mentioned that there are over
4,000 newspapers in 100 languages registered in India and the
scope for employment will always exist, despite difficulties.
Avenues in journalism have multiplied because of unexpected
growth in two new areas: a) Niche publications; and b) Web
editing. We explain these below:
Niche Publications: This means special purpose publications
catering to particular industries, for example, travel and
tourism, hotels, textiles or computers. Many such
publications have been started in the past few years. These
"niche" publications may not have the mass circulations of
newspapers but are highly profitable. However, to work in
them one needs to have journalistic skills as well as
industry knowledge. Hence, MBAs are employed in business
publications while computer experts find jobs in information
technology magazines. The idea is to develop a specialisation
and build on it. In the future, journalists with specialised
skills in an industry may be more in demand than those with
mere writing skills.
Web Editing: Another avenue has opened up in recent times and
that is because of the Internet. Many newspapers and
magazines have web editions and require skilled people to
maintain their sites. Web newspapers have also started, which
do not have print editions. This has opened up a great
opportunity but here those journalists would be required who
have knowledge of websites and how to make them attractive.
The work involves content creation, layout, graphics and text
on the Web newspage.
The scope of journalists is, therefore, increasing by the
day, though the role has changed a great deal. Earlier,
journalists collected their daily quota of news at the Press
Club and this was rehashed for publication the next day.
Today, however, a journalist must be a professional like any
other and must have technical skills as well.
Develop the necessary skills
One major shortcoming of the Indian press has been its
failure to follow up stories. Scandals are reported but soon
forgotten because the press finds something else to report.
This has led to the unfortunate situation where newspapers
are not taken seriously any more. If this continues, the
privileges enjoyed by journalists may well become a thing of
the past. The day of famous editors is also over. Today,
different editors are employed for different sections and
there is no one person who is all powerful in a newspaper
organisation, except perhaps the owner. Do not thus think of
a career in journalism because of privileges that you might
get. Instead, get a specialisation and try to make a name in
your chosen field.
The modern journalist should have skills of expression as
well as technical skills. Even if you are a reporter, you
will have to type in your stories on a page-making and
publishing software. Nor is it necessary to have a journalism
degree. One can belong to any discipline and hope to join
journalism if one has demonstrated qualities of writing and
reporting. Niche magazines, in any case, want specialists and
not mere journalists. On the other hand, a journalism degree
will help you acquire skills and also enable you an entry
into a newspaper or television organisation. The ideal thing
might be to zero-in on your area of specialisation, acquire a
degree, and then do journalism. This may be a better career
option than doing just a journalism course.
To acquire fame, of course, one has to be a good journalist.
Merely getting a journalism degree does not make you good at
your job. First, one must have the capability of getting
information. This means that you must have a "head for the
news". Then, you must have the perseverance and grit to
obtain the information, considering the fact that most people
do not like to part with information. Finally, you must have
the ability to transform the information into an interesting
story.
Prospects
After your basic training, you are ready to enter the world
of journalism. Whether you wish to join TV journalism or a
newspaper, you can expect to be a reporter at a starting
salary of Rs 5,000 per month. Growth is fast, especially if
you show an aptitude for the job. After a few years you can
expect to be a senior reporter and move in the salary of
around Rs 10,000 and thereafter it all depends on how famous
and good you become. A sub-editor's job consists of editing
what others have written and prepare the pages that will be
printed. The schedule is usually unearthly, with shifts
ending at 2 or 3 am, which means that social life has to be
discarded. Once you get used to it, however, it becomes
enjoyable.
In TV journalism one can start as a reporter or do some
research work and later become a correspondent and anchor.
There are thousands of people who want to become newsreaders
and anchors but they lack training. There are few institutes
available which can train you to become a newsreader. Even if
you have training, it is a tough field, since newsreaders are
employed on contract. Presenters are given the boot for minor
mistakes. In Doordarshan the situation is worse and requires
political patronage. Think of this option only as part-time
work or look for employment in organisations like NDTV or Sun
TV.
Another option could be to start out on your own and become a
private producer. If you have an idea about a programme that
can click, approach a company which supplies programmes to
channels.
Where to study: Most universities have departments in
journalism and mass communication which offer degrees. These
are good options but the credibility varies, since many
universities have not kept pace with the changing trends of
journalism. They still teach outdated methodology, and
employing organisations find that the students are as good as
raw and have to be trained properly.
There are other institutes which offer professional diplomas
and some of them have been able to acquire good reputations.
There is usually an entrance test and selections based on the
test score. Addresses of some of the institutes are given
below:
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, JNU New Campus,
Arunna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi - 110 067
Times School of Journalism, 10 Daryaganj, New Delhi - 110
002.
Asian College of Journalism, Indian Express Building, Queen's
Road, Bangalore - 560 001.
Xavier Institute of Mass Communication, St Xavier's College,
5 Mahapalika Marg, Mumbai - 400 001
Mass Communications Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia,
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110 025.
In addition, there are a number of private institutes which
have opened up, with varying degrees of credibility.
Making a career in journalism
Assess yourself: Merely having a good command of English, or
writing for the school or college magazine is not enough. It
is good to have articles published in reputed newspapers so
one can start early. Apart from writing skills, learn some
editing and proof-reading as well. Knowledge of computer will
be an added advantage.
Learn new skills: If you have set your mind on journalism,
why not learn Web editing and join a big group? This is a new
field and a rapidly growing one.
Specialise: Either gather a degree in some discipline first
or specialise in an area after joining a newspaper. This will
help you earn fame and you may well become an authority on
your subject.
Freelance: It is not necessary to join a news organisation.
If you are living in a remote area, or cannot take up a
regular job, start writing on a free lance basis. Many
organisation use free lancers for a wide variety of work.
Even students can take this up.
Look for other avenues: Do not be limited in news organisations only. You can also do copywriting jobs for
advertising agencies, media monitoring and research.
Be honest: Do not join merely for the perquisites that you
might get. True, journalists get invited to parties and are
given a lot of gifts, but it is good to remember that they
are nothing but bribes. In the long run, an honest journalist
will be respected more.
Upgrade your writing skills: Always use spare time to read
and develop creative writing skills. Many famous writers
started as journalists but became celebrated writers by
upgrading themselves.
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