City media colleges not industry ready

Are journalism institutions in the city worthy enough of producing industry-ready graduates? Do we have premier J-schools in the city which can attract students from across the country? The answer, concur teachers and students, is no. With more than 80,000 newspapers and magazines and 500 television news channels, the country’s news media industry is among the world’s most vibrant.

Journalists have no qualms taking the government to task, yet critics wonder whether, in the era of the 24x7 news cycle, professional standards are increasingly compromised. The proliferation of news media outlets, combined with concerns about the quality of reporters, has resulted in a great demand for top journalism school graduates.

India has long had well-known graduate programmes in this field, notably at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, the Indian Institute of Mass Communications in New Delhi, the Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media in Bengaluru and the Xavier Institute of Communications in Mumbai.

But the journalism schools that have been mushrooming in the city do not guarantee the quality the profession commands. “The quality of journalism programmes is hugely questionable in India,” said Shishir Joshi, a veteran journalist and co-founder of Journalism Mentor, while interacting with New York Times. “There’s a huge mismatch between what is taught and what is practiced,” he adds.

“Journalism education has to go beyond skills alone. There should be a substantive understanding of the subject in Indian scenario,” according to Aloke Thakore, the co-founder of Journalism Mentor. While, the rest of the institutions in the country have taken such immense steps, institutions in the city are marred by lack of infrastructure. In many media institutions the students are taught photography without using the equipment.

While the Universities Grants Commission (UGC) has been stressing on the need to have digital campuses since long, several institutions still lack internet facility; turning a blind eye towards 'Digital India' project. While the institutions promise a package of journalism, advertising and public relations in one course, the focus shifts as per demand, eventually landing on print journalism than other fields.

In this way students don’t get much exposure to other programmes. Sharing his disappointment over lack of infrastructure a student of Bhavan’s Sri Vivekananda Degree College rues, “In media, we have to be well-versed with a lot of software, equipment et al. However, our college lacks the infrastructure to push our potential further. Due to this, many students start taking the course lightly.”

“We don’t have internet facility and all we do is forget the doubts we encounter. The college charges Rs 20,000 in our fee towards maintenance of the studio which we hardly get to use. Not only this, the placements are mostly in the IT sector than the mainstream media,” said a student from BA course in Loyola Academy.

Hitherto, the institutions blame the students for lack of basic skills. “Even if we provide infrastructure, students lack interest in improving their basic skills. They are highly driven by technology and they use social media language in exams,” said Kameshwari, head of mass communication department at Bhavan’s Sri Vivekananda Degree College.

Even the institutions admit that the placements are more towards the IT sector. “Since the digital arena is growing, many IT companies offer placements to media students. However, to get campus placements from mainstream media, institutions need to tie up with companies. Even we are in the process to do so,” said Sadhana Jayaswal, head of department for mass communication in Loyola Academy.

Industry experts admit that efforts are to be taken to enhance media studies in these private institutions. “We are aware of few colleges which are not providing infrastructure for students. To improve placements, institutions need to identify areas which can be improved and work on them,” said Bala Swamy, head of mass communication department, in Osmania University.

By:Vikash Singh