Mass Communication

Career Guidance in Mass Communication and Journalism Courses, Scope & Job

In the world of communication, the peerless growth has been seen over the last few years. Gone are the days, when a short, brief and thoughtful message used to take days, months to reveal across. Changes are not only seen in the world of communication but on the target audience also. The prophecies of this developing d are high. With the expansion in the number of television sets, news channels, radio stations, advertising etc in each growing day. The profession resembles to be excelling into an unsurpassed increase along with the prospect of its chasers to own a dynamic career.

With the changing customs of the economy, media has turned into diverse in form and ownership. Until the dawn of electronic media, media meant to be newspapers and magazines, therefore journalism was a public service profession. A qualification in journalism and mass communication unlocks doors of opportunities in various professions under it including Journalism, Electronic Media, Public relations and advertising. But the essential and top-notch thing required in these fields is a proficient command over any language which will lead you towards success.

The individuals who are creative, dynamic, artistic, imaginative, enterprising and acquires the ability to boost his ideas, thoughts, concepts, observation through diverse modes of communication can have exciting career possibilities pretty comfortably and conveniently. The growth of new media has formulated an entire spectrum of innovative possibilities, and profiles like Disc Jockeys or Radio Jockeys.

Here are some areas in which an individual with a journalism and mass communication degree can make his career:

1- Print Media:

Print Media has been and is one of the traditional forms of journalism. The roots of conveying and sending messages here and there started from this form of media only. Earlier, newspapers, journals, and magazines have always been a major source of communicating news and information to the masses across the world with the readership of millions of people on regular basis. Today, the newspapers, journals, and magazines involve a broad range of specialized segments such as political events, business news, leisure, cinema, sports, career, health etc. These subjects demand highly qualified journalists or peoples to cover up the news of the assigned beat and to give a vision to the readers of viewing the news. After acquiring a qualification in this field, one can look forward to a field of his interest and seek different available courses in that track.

2- Electronic Media:

In the 21st century, electronic media has brought up a revolutionary change in the lives of people. After the advent of electronic media, innumerable changes have been witnessed in the lifestyles, thoughts, beliefs, and opinions of masses. The communication mediums such as television, radio, audio, video, and the internet have made every news, entertainment, information, education relevant subjects possible to reach each and every corner of the world within the fraction of seconds.

With the burgeoning network of TV, satellite communication, cable services, radio stations, etc, one can imagine the future of this industry shining brightly. Electronic journalism grants opportunities to every qualified youth to enter this fields of the directory, production, camera, graphics, editing, sound, programme research, script writing etc.

3- Advertising:

Advertising is one of the most glamorous, exciting, and lucrative facets of mass communication. It is a marketing communication that exercises an openly sponsored, non-personal information to promote or sell a product, commodity, service or idea.

In the present scenario, advertising has stride a long path from newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, brochures, posters, signboards, handbills prior to the commercials or advertisements on radio, television, and the Internet.

With the emergence of the multinational companies in the competitive globalized market, the more and more Indian firms are tieing-up with international companies to chase foreign clients. Today, about every business corporation, political organizations, social groups etc. all think it necessary to advertise to influence or shape public opinion. Therefore, it is very clearly indicated that the mass communication industry would have tremendous growth in the coming years.

4- Film and TV production:

In the digital age, mass communication has turned into the most worthwhile course to study.  Mass communication is best suited to those individuals who aspire to explore themselves into a greater stage. In this field, film and tv production is the most competitive and sought after career choice as there is no paucity of available professional career opportunities for the deserving candidates.

But those who are quite tenacious and well-intended to stay in the field, it can be rewarding and fruitful for them. There are various diverse groups of people associated with the plenty of options to choose from the available choices from technical jobs like directors, producers, soundmen, lightmen, cameramen, filmmakers, editors etc. to artists including actors, comedian, dancers, musicians, stuntmen etc.

5- Public Relations:

Public relations is the discipline of managing the expansion of information between an individual, organization and the public. Public relations involve an organization or individual to gain exposure and publicity to their audiences by using topics and subjects of human interest and news items that do not demand direct pays. Public relations is not an easy profession to establish.

As the name indicates that public relations are employed to create and depict a positive image of an industry by diverse mediums of communication. Because of the high competition level and lucrative field, the Business houses, schools, universities, hospitals, government institutions, political parties, and political leaders etc. employ extremely qualified and acclaimed public relations personnel and companies to cast and present their image, objectives, policies in the best possible way. Therefore, a person possesses a desire to meet people with exceptional communication skills, interacting ability, convince people, and create an affinity to look forward to an exhilarating and prosperous career as a public relation expert.

Eligibility Criteria for Journalism and Mass Communication:

To pursue any course, candidates are required to follow the directed eligibility criteria:

Undergraduate Courses:

To explore and attain a lucrative and successful career in journalism and mass communication, aspirants need to first complete their schooling education,i.e. up to class 12th from a recognized board of education.

It is mandatory for them to secure at least 45% to 50% marks in Intermediate to be eligible for undergraduate degree programs.  

Postgraduate Courses:

To enroll admissions in the postgraduate courses of this profession, applicants must acquire an undergraduate degree in any stream from a reputed university to with a minimum percentile of 60% marks. The age of the candidates must range from 23 years or more in age during the time of admission.

Note: The eligibility criteria for this profession can vary from college to college.

Skills Required:

• Expert in written communication skills
• Exemplary verbal communication skills
• Ethics and Integrity
• Courage and Boldness
• Will power
• Communication Skills
• Knowledge of Technology
• Expressive
• Investigative Skills
• Critical Analysis
• Ambition and a desire to succeed
• Organized, Tactful, and Confident
• The concise and effective manner
• Persistence and determination

Process to acquire a career in Journalism and Mass Communication:

To become a successful journalist or media professional, individuals must possess an analytical and inquisitive mind, good aptitude for presenting news in an exact, concise and compelling way, organize their opinion to express themselves both orally and written in a clear way.

At the same moment, a media person needs to be very tactful, optimistic and organized while interacting with celebrities, political faces, etc from every walk of life. They must possess the capability and expertise to scrutinize relevant facts from the irrelevant figures. Such professionals must also owe the ability to admit criticism and enthusiasm to do significant rewriting.

Here is the procedure for achieving success in the media industry:

• Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree first

To be a senior journalist and reputed media person, it is necessary to acquire at least a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications or relevant media courses. A bachelor's degree programme generally requires three years (which is divided into six semesters) to complete the course. The media courses have been designed to provide basic journalistic and communicating skills in diverse mass media, to give exposure to the students for modern developments in media concerns and research.

Here are some courses that include Journalism and Mass Communication:

• Newspaper journalism
• Feature writing
• Investigative reporting
• Broadcast journalism
• Sports reporting
• Photojournalism
• News Editing
• Media law
• Multimedia story coverage
• Fundamentals of mass communication
• Ethical issues in public relations
• Television news writing
• Graphic design

Students usually choose coursework focused on explicit media types, those who are interested in broadcasting may take electives in radio and television communication.

• Step 2: Complete an Internship

The second steps towards achieving success in journalism and mass communication is to complete an internship. Practical experience of any course can be extremely beneficial to the candidates in searching employment. Today every organization demands students with some industrial experience and practical knowledge. Students seeking experience can get hands-on training programmes by joining internships in the media industry like newspapers, magazines, online media or broadcasting stations. Interns also get the opportunity to work in the industry as employees by serving as reporters, bloggers, editors or broadcast assistants, over other positions.

• Step 3: Seek Job

Coming to the third step, here graduates of journalism and mass communication degree programs search for an entry-level job with small newspapers agencies, magazines and broadcast stations. Those who want to become reporters can initiate the employment hunt by inquiring job listings from their college’s media department. When applying for reputed positions, the cover letters and resumes must be grammatically correct and free from typos to illustrate writing abilities and attention to detail. As it is a very competitive field, there are innumerable candidates who are hunting for jobs in the media sector but still getting no jobs. But there is no dearth of jobs for those who are talented and experienced enough to do the industry work professionally.  

• Step 4: Advance with Experience

In this last step of the process, candidates can advance in this profession after obtaining a well satisfactory job. One can develop himself/herself by pertaining in the field, so it is requisite by the candidates to excel in this profession. By acquiring appropriate experience in the media industry while doing any job, one can apply for higher and reputed organizations to earn well.  The capable and experienced candidates can easily get hired in the industry as Editors, Producers, Directors, News anchors etc.

Best Institutes to pursue Journalism and Mass Communication Courses in India:

• Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune
• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
• National Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
• Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
• AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
• Makhan Lal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal
• Xavier Institute of Communication (XIC), Mumbai
• Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore
• Christ University, Bangalore

Responsibilities of a Media person:

• Upholding the truth through Verification
• Unbiased Reporting
• Serving the Public as a Watchdog
• Forum for Public Comment
• Comprehensive Reporting
• Making Important News Interesting
• Personal Conscience in Reporting
• To educate citizens about specific matters where their knowledge lack
• To inform citizens of the important policy judgments made by governments, and the positions held by political leaders with respect to those decisions.
• To aware people about what is happening in other parts of the world.
• To discover and reveal the existence of maladministration and mismanagement.
• To act as a forum where citizens can be informed of different services offered by companies, organizations, government (advertising).
• To provide quality, examined, researched, and verified writing or reporting based on reliable information and intelligence to everyone.

Process to acquire a career in Journalism and Mass Communication:

To become a successful journalist or media professional, individuals must possess an analytical and inquisitive mind, good aptitude for presenting news in an exact, concise and compelling way, organize their opinion to express themselves both orally and written in a clear way.

At the same moment, a media person needs to be very tactful, optimistic and organized while interacting with celebrities, political faces, etc from every walk of life. They must possess the capability and expertise to scrutinize relevant facts from the irrelevant figures. Such professionals must also owe the ability to admit criticism and enthusiasm to do significant rewriting.

Here is the procedure for achieving success in the media industry:

• Step 1: Earn a Bachelor's Degree first

To be a senior journalist and reputed media person, it is necessary to acquire at least a bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications or relevant media courses. A bachelor's degree programme generally requires three years (which is divided into six semesters) to complete the course. The media courses have been designed to provide basic journalistic and communicating skills in diverse mass media, to give exposure to the students for modern developments in media concerns and research.

Here are some courses that include Journalism and Mass Communication:

• Newspaper journalism
• Feature writing
• Investigative reporting
• Broadcast journalism
• Sports reporting
• Photojournalism
• News Editing
• Media law
• Multimedia story coverage
• Fundamentals of mass communication
• Ethical issues in public relations
• Television news writing
• Graphic design

Students usually choose coursework focused on explicit media types, those who are interested in broadcasting may take electives in radio and television communication.

• Step 2: Complete an Internship

The second steps towards achieving success in journalism and mass communication is to complete an internship. Practical experience of any course can be extremely beneficial to the candidates in searching employment. Today every organization demands students with some industrial experience and practical knowledge. Students seeking experience can get hands-on training programmes by joining internships in the media industry like newspapers, magazines, online media or broadcasting stations. Interns also get the opportunity to work in the industry as employees by serving as reporters, bloggers, editors or broadcast assistants, over other positions.

• Step 3: Seek Job

Coming to the third step, here graduates of journalism and mass communication degree programs search for an entry-level job with small newspapers agencies, magazines and broadcast stations. Those who want to become reporters can initiate the employment hunt by inquiring job listings from their college’s media department. When applying for reputed positions, the cover letters and resumes must be grammatically correct and free from typos to illustrate writing abilities and attention to detail. As it is a very competitive field, there are innumerable candidates who are hunting for jobs in the media sector but still getting no jobs. But there is no dearth of jobs for those who are talented and experienced enough to do the industry work professionally.  

• Step 4: Advance with Experience

In this last step of the process, candidates can advance in this profession after obtaining a well satisfactory job. One can develop himself/herself by pertaining in the field, so it is requisite by the candidates to excel in this profession. By acquiring appropriate experience in the media industry while doing any job, one can apply for higher and reputed organizations to earn well.  The capable and experienced candidates can easily get hired in the industry as Editors, Producers, Directors, News anchors etc.

Best Institutes to pursue Journalism and Mass Communication Courses in India:

• Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune
• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
• National Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
• Asian College of Journalism, Chennai
• AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
• Makhan Lal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal
• Xavier Institute of Communication (XIC), Mumbai
• Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media, Bangalore
• Christ University, Bangalore

Responsibilities of a Media person:

• Upholding the truth through Verification
• Unbiased Reporting
• Serving the Public as a Watchdog
• Forum for Public Comment
• Comprehensive Reporting
• Making Important News Interesting
• Personal Conscience in Reporting
• To educate citizens about specific matters where their knowledge lack
• To inform citizens of the important policy judgments made by governments, and the positions held by political leaders with respect to those decisions.
• To aware people about what is happening in other parts of the world.
• To discover and reveal the existence of maladministration and mismanagement.
• To act as a forum where citizens can be informed of different services offered by companies, organizations, government (advertising).
• To provide quality, examined, researched, and verified writing or reporting based on reliable information and intelligence to everyone.

Remuneration

With exciting and charming career opportunities in this profession, employees secure attractive and handsome salary package jobs as journalist, actor, director, editor, screenwriter, RJ, producer, VJ etc. There are numerous media jobs are available today but will be given only to the talented and trained individuals.

Candidate here can attain an initial salary package of around Rs 12,000 and 25,000 on a monthly basis which totally depends on the individual and his/her communication skills. After getting work experience of 5 years or more, a professional and skilled person can expect a higher remuneration package in the range of about Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per month. With lucrative salary packages, employees of the media industry can special treatment and perks also.