Only 25% of mass communication students become journalists, even they are unstable

By Rajiv Shah

I have never studied in a journalism school, though I find that today only those who graduate (or post-graduate) in what is now termed as mass communication are taken as journalists in all top papers and other news outfits. In fact, there is no separate journalism course today.

So what are produced in what is called mass communication courses? "Journalism is just one subject out of many in the mass communication course", I was told by one of the senior teachers -- a professor -- in a private university at a workshop organised by Google News in Ahmedabad. So what does the course teach? And what kind of professionals does it produce?

This is what I learned: only 25% of the students are interested in going to journalism, while others would like to pursue their communication skills as public relations person, or work in advertising industry, or elsewhere where you require communication expertise. Surely, journalism is no more a lucrative choice.

And what are they taught? How to write and communicate in front of different media, perhaps without telling them why journalism is opposite to PR job, which requires you to sell a product or do what the corporate boss tells, while journalism requires you to tell people what the establishment does not want to reveal.

And what happens to a student who chooses to be a journalist? She or he, after joining a news outfit, often moves over to be a PR officer or even a receptionist! This happens because they are told and taught to be always on the side of the establishment, that news flows from the established alone!

Sad state of affairs!

Bangkok IMF-World Bank meetings: New reports put India's debt, climate, accountability crisis in focus

Counterview News As the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded their Annual Meetings in Bangkok this week, civil society groups and policy experts outside the official proceedings released two critical documents challenging the institutions' legacy and prescriptions for Asia, calling for a fundamental overhaul of the global financial architecture.

India’s power paradox: Why the AI boom and climate crisis demand a distributed energy revolution

By Shankar Sharma* India has achieved historic milestones in power sector capacity addition over the past decade. Yet, beneath the surface of these record numbers, an unprecedented confluence of structural demand shifts and climate-induced supply volatility is testing the absolute limits of our national grid.

New UPF study strengthens case for statutory controls on junk food advertising

Counterview News A randomized controlled trial published in the journal Nature Metabolism has found that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) trigger metabolic and neural responses distinct from minimally processed foods—even when the two meals are nutritionally identical. The study provides direct experimental evidence that food processing itself influences health through mechanisms beyond calories and macronutrients alone.

Counterview

Search This Blog