My Science School

Journalism is all about gathering and disseminating news and information. It is often seen as glamorous and exciting but, as with any occupation, success is only achieved after much hard work and routine activity.

You can go for  a 3-year-journalism course after 10+2 (any stream). The course is called Bachelors in Journalism and Mass Communication (BJMC), Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM) or Bachelor of Mass Communication (BMC). It teaches students the skills necessary for careers in reporting, writing, and editing functions with newspapers, wire services, magazines, and special publications. In the third year, emphasis is given to field assignments and practicals. A good course in journalism gives you the chance to do an internship with some of the best names in the business, besides teaching the basic skills. Admission is generally through an entrance test, conducted by the individual institute. The objective of these tests is to judge awareness of current events and the essential skills required to be a conscientious journalist. Personal qualities rather than training are more important for becoming a good journalist.

Some of the institutes are Department of Communication Studies, University of Pune, Pune (unipune.ernet.in); Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune (simc.edu); Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai (xaviercomm.org); Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi (ggsipu.nic.in); Asian College of Journalism, Chennai (asianmedia.org.in); Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore (iijnm.org); Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi (iimc.ac.in); Makhanlal Chaturvedi Rashtriya Patrakarita Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal (mcu.ac.in); AJK Mass communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (ajkmcrc.org); Times School of Journalism, New Delhi (tcms.in).

 

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I am a student of class X. I am going to join humanities in class XI. I wanted to know whether it is necessary to have journalism as a subject in college if I want to become a journalist. Also, if I join a particular media, can I hop from one media to other, or will I be stuck with one media?

It is not necessary to join a degree course in journalism. In fact, people from as diverse backgrounds as Hindi, English, Sanskrit, history, economics, physics and chemistry join journalism. Study of a liberal arts or science subject broadens their perspective. If you want to hone your skills, you can do a PG diploma in print or electronic media after graduation.

Again, journalists are known to switch from print to electronic media. The other way round is also possible, provided you write well.

 

Picture Credit : Google