Core Courses
As part of ‘how to’ aspect, Term One will have foundation courses that will ensure that the students get the basics right in Reporting, Writing and Production across the different platforms using text, photographs, multimedia elements and audio and video.
Term Two will have intermediate level courses with modules to reinforce skills to enable students to produce output across platforms fit to be presented in the public domain.
As part of the Covering Deprivation module, in a culmination of the skills acquired, students report, edit and produce a special broadsheet or a website or an audio-visual docufeature with the information gathered during field trips to villages in remote corners of the country.
There will also be a lecture series on Media Start-ups, Ideation & Innovation, Market Research, Writing Proposals and Business Plans and Mobilising Capital among other things. Also planned is a module on Solutions Journalism which will enable journalists to go beyond just reporting problems and look at solutions to those problems.
Term Three will be advanced in terms of the scale and complexity of news gathering and production skills and include hands-on projects. Students will also undertake an investigative project in any one of the three platforms.
Towards the end of the term, students have to submit their Dissertation on a topic requiring extensive secondary research and some field work. The work would have started by the end of the second term, with faculty members advising students on topics and supervising the research and writing. Students defend their dissertation in a viva voice session.
KEY ISSUES IN JOURNALISM
This intellectually demanding course deals with substantive issues of current relevance. Distinguished journalists and academics address, among other questions, issues relating to the Indian Constitution and political system, caste relations in the present day, the changing aspects of Indian science and technology, India’s relations with its neighbours and the world, important aspects of international relations, and key challenges facing the country, such as the struggle between secularism and pluralism on the one hand and communalism and religious fundamentalism on the other. Non-Indian students are encouraged to apply this learning and these insights to their own societies.
MEDIA PERSPECTIVES
This course is designed to give young entrants into journalism a sense of the history and characteristics of the news media, and of their possible future development. The areas covered include the press and the independence movement, and movements for social reform and transformation; the growth of the media from the once-separate print, broadcast, and new media platforms to the current convergent multi-platform entities and their relationship to the development of capitalism (up to the present era of globalisation); the explicit and implicit forms of censorship operating on the news media; the explosive growth of television following the Direct Broadcast Satellite revolution; the impact of global media giants on news production and dissemination; the influence of the Internet and the New Media on the context and practice of journalism; and the impact of convergence, digitisation and vertical integration in the news media.
The course helps students understand different aspects of their future profession. Subjects include the role of journalists in society, the ethical decisions they are called upon to make, the value of media diversity and pluralism, the effects of concentration of media ownership, and the impact of technological change.
TOOLS OF THE MODERN JOURNALIST
Technological transformation and other developments in society and the economy bring about profound changes in work practice, making new demands on the capabilities and equipment of contemporary journalists. Included in this course are segments on Photojournalism; News and Numbers; and Sourcing Information.
In the Photojournalism course, among several other things, students learn about camera basics and the factors to be kept in mind for a photo-shoot. They will also study the works of well-known photo-journalists and learn about the different genres of photography.
The News and Numbers course introduces students to the statistical principles which underlie the numbers used in the media. Students get an understanding of how data is collected, interpreted and presented. They pick up the ability to analyse and evaluate numerical data.
Under Sourcing Information, students learn how to identify and cultivate sources; pick up tips from reliable sources for possible scoops; and evaluate leaks from disgruntled employees and whistleblowers. They learn the importance of analysing data in documents and to carefully look for gaps and inconsistencies.
THE MEDIA, LAW AND SOCIETY
This course considers a whole range of laws that apply to the various media in India, focusing on their impact on the media. Special attention is given to the freedoms guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution and to concerns of restrictions on freedom of speech and expression. Students from abroad are encouraged to examine the difference between Indian laws and similar laws in their own countries. The course also serves to introduce students to courtroom and police station procedures.