MASS COMMUNICATION
What is Mass Communication?
The Education system of the 21st century India has in its basket plethora of professional
and specialized courses. But one stream that stands tall among all is that of Mass
Communication. Reason being the dynamism and the challenge associated with the career.
Reporting from the battlefield and war front to their role in judicial activism,
the canvass is as large as one’s imagination.
In simple language, Mass Communication means communicating to the masses, relaying
the information to the masses through different means.
Why study Mass Communication?
A decade back, mass communication classes used to have only a handful of students
but now the scenario has changed immensely. The vast job opportunities thrown by
it in different areas like the press, journals, advertising firms, radio, production
houses, publication houses and television are enough to fascinate any student towards
taking up this course.
Mass Comm - An Outlook
Various universities, institutions and polytechnics provide the education in mass
communication in India. More and more universities in India today are imparting
education in this field at undergraduate level. Ph.D. can also be obtained but the
universities offering Ph. D. in Mass Communication in India are numbered. Of late,
University Grants Commission (UGC) has started an online course in Journalism. There
are some private institutes too which offers six-month course in different streams
of mass communication. The one-year Diploma in mass communication by various universities
and institutes is also getting popular among students.
Streams in Mass Comm
Mass communication covers a wide area. It includes a wide variety of streams. Listed
below are a few of the fields.
* Advertising
* Journalism - Print, TV, Radio
* Public Relations
* Publishing
* Film-making - Direction and Production
Nature of work
Mass Communication is a broad field. A student who takes up a course in Mass Communication
has a number of career options in front of him. He/she can opt to be a Copywriter
if he wants to go into Advertising, a Journalist if he has a nose for news and a
Public relations officer if he wants to be the image builder of a company. But whatever
career option a student chooses, one thing that will be found common in all options
will be meeting the tight deadline schedules. The media people have to work amidst
a lot of pressure as they have deadlines to meet.
‘News’ for instance cannot be taken lightly and put off for another day as it would
become stale and thus would affect its sale. A journalist has to rush whenever a
news breaks in. He has a 24-hour job. A copywriter too has to meet the deadlines.
Anybody planning to enter this field must prepare himself to work at odd hours.
Like other fields where the working hours are generally found to be between 9 and
5, in the media field one has to work in shifts. There are some positions in the
media where one is required to contribute only a fixed time of eight hours to work
during the daytime, but such jobs are very few in number. In a nutshell, the field
of media is quite interesting and rewarding but at the same time it demands lots
of time, energy and hard work from one. So if you have the passion to defeat deadlines
and are ready to work at any time of the day, you are the right person for this
industry. Some of the Career Opportunities available are as follows:
* Journalist
* News Anchor
*Copy Writer
* Media Planner
* TV Producer
* Camera Person
* Public Relations Officer
* Books Editor
Institutes
Courses in Mass Communication are delivered at two levels - Undergraduate and Post
Graduate,degree and diploma courses ,besides the short term certifi- cate courses.
The undergraduate degree courses are usually of a three-year term while the Post
Graduate degree courses range from 1 year to 2 years. Tenure for the diploma in
mass communication is less than a year where as for the post graduate diploma the
tenure is usually a year or more.
The certificate courses are usually conducted in span of week’s time. It may vary
from 4 weeks to 6months depending on the institute.
Mass Communication Colleges in Chennai
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Asian College of Journalism |
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Kasturi Centre, 124, Wallajah Road,Chennai 600 002, India. |
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Phone: 91-44-28418254/55 |
Fax: 91-44-28418253 |
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Email: asian_media@vsnl.com
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Website: www.asianmedia.org |
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Courses: Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism,BBC Certificate Course in Journalism
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Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha ( Institute of National Importance) |
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Thanikachalam Road, T. Nagar, Chennai– 600 017 |
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Phone: 24348420 (Secretary), 24341824 / 24348640, 24341244 |
Fax: (044) 24388420 |
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Course: Diploma in Journalism
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Bhavan’s Rajaji College of Communication and Management |
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18-20-22(38-39), East Mada Street, Mylapore, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 004 |
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Phone: 044- 24940811(O), 24511141(R) |
Fax: 044- 24941045 |
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Course: Journalism
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