How to Crack Interviews for Journalism Courses?

Media has always had the power to penetrate deeper into things and broadcast issues that need immediate attention. In India, the face of media has transformed 360 degrees over the past few years – to the extent that the nation stands at the focal point, addressed as “world’s most linguistically diverse news landscape.” The changing landscape has attracted tons of aspirers to join the revolution and take the movement ahead. However, most get stuck at the interview level of the entrance examination. Thus this blog shall talk of a few tactics one should remember to ace interviews at mass communication colleges in India:-

1.First question 90% of the time remains a personal one where you may face liners as “why do you want to pursue this”, “it’s a challenging job”, “why this college”, “how do you see your future” etc. These questions need to be addressed honestly, yet tactfully. Avoid answering in a pattern that attracts counter questioning. Do not sound confused or stay mum while they keep looking at you.

2.If counter questioning happens (which in most cases will) do not lose your calm. Stay gentle and answer all the questions with confidence. It will position you as a person who is ready to tackle and overcome challenges and is confident about decisions.

3.You should not lose your command over the language. Good listening and speaking skills will do wonders for you here.

4.Most importantly, you should have current and past political and social facts on tips. Current affairs need to be given special attention.

5.Avoid giving answers that have loose ends or are baseless. Do not fumble and place trust on yourself. Let your work compiled in a portfolio speak louder about you.

These tips come in handy for students who wish to ace interviews and study journalism courses in India from the best colleges. Do not fret over what might happen. Rather keep your dream as the goal, and everything else shall fall in place.

What all traits one must have to peruse a course in journalism?

Journalism is a highly demanding career because it requires one to do extensive research work, travel distant places to find stories, and narrate all these stories in the most engaging way. Often news editors look for journalists who can look at world issues from different political and cultural perspectives so that they can present a neutral viewpoint to general public.  A person who aspires to be a journalist should not be opinionated and have knowledge about every news, which is of public interest. If you have a degree in humanities or social sciences and an inclination towards journalism then you can think of getting a masters degree from premiere mass communication colleges in India.

Besides a degree, attitude and aptitude are those two things that a person must possess to make a successful career in journalism. As a journalist, one should keep public interest and global general affairs in mind. The person must have hunger for knowledge and an ability to critically think about it.

Journalism is not just about flashy headlines and breaking news. A good journalist always takes a plunge to tell true stories regardless of the platform. The news stories should be high on content, bring awareness among general public and most importantly shake authorities to do something about the present situation. One may not learn all this by doing some journalism courses in India or abroad. It requires sheer hard work and experience to do quality work in this field.  

In past few decades, various forms of journalism courses have also emerged such as photo journalism, data journalism, journalism for social change, and documentary based journalism. If you are particularly good at one of the skill set such as photography, shooting, or writing then one can make a career in the above mentioned fields.

Want to make a career in journalism?

Journalism has emerged as one of the fastest growing career fields. We all have heard of the very famous phrase, ‘’ pen is all time powerful than a sword’’. Well, it holds very true and is the basics of journalism profession. Today we get know about all happenings from across the world, be it about politics, sports, science, educational or natural events. How do we get all this information? Well, it is through journalists who investigate, analyse and report news from around the world through various mass communication channels (television, radio, newspaper and social media).  

For all those who have an interest in working in this field job and career growth opportunities are many. Aspiring journalists should take the first step towards their career by taking some formal education.  There are a number of prestigious colleges that offer AAFT journalism courses in India. These courses are available at graduation as well as post-graduation level. A three year degree program at the bachelor’s level is the best and often the most preferred career path for all those students who wish to make a career in journalism. Besides this, students can also go for a diploma course in journalism, which is offered by many college and universities. After doing graduation, students can also opt for higher studies and go for a master’s degree program to broaden their knowledge about this field.

To increase chances of having a great career in journalism and mass communication, there are certain set of skills that one must have. Good command over language, excellent communication skills, alertness and perseverance are some of the key skills that aspiring journalists must have. With the right attitude, skills and a degree of journalism in hand, you can reach great heights in this field.

Journalism is changing and how!

Noting from the older times, Journalism has changed the world, quite literally. From uncovering to exposing the major scams involving politicians or artists, or unveiling the truths about the wars happening across the globe; journalists in the past have kept no stones unturned to open our eyes. And now also, the world is actually changing through writing and journalism.

A lay man’s idea of Journalism usually revolves around the mirror effect. It will show the true face of world to the world. However, it’s not just constrained to this, journalism has the potency to drive a social change using the ethics of Journalism.

In the current scenario, Journalism and its know-about have changed vast volumes. Once there was the conventional print system publishing stories in the traditional print media and now it’s altogether a new platform-digital and online.

For people like us, who’re constantly on the internet with our big smart phones, the new digital form of Journalism has caught eyes of many, very distinctively. Since we crave for first hand news and derive it on our fingertips, this new form of Journalism is quite a profound.


For anyone who’s eager to study about the various Journalism courses in India, there are some fantastic mass communication colleges like AAFT in India which offer a comprehensive curriculum to suit us. Rooting towards these colleges not only will give you a better perspective about the journalism world academically, but also guide you through in becoming a media professional in this digital front world.

So if you think you have a knack for news, a nose to smell news, or have an eye for details and good concentration in knowing about the world, why not make use of it? The modern setup of this digital Journalism will perfectly align with your stars.

Qualities of a good journalist

Journalism is certainly one of the most challenging professions out there. A job profile that requires, so much effort, scouring for information all day can really take some serious dedication. Indian journalism today is becoming seriously advanced, and is able to compete with the standards of international journalism. Several mass communication colleges in India like AAFT have now devised superb journalism courses that enable a student to become a good journalist. Here are some qualities that journalism courses try to instill in their students:

Punctuality
Meeting strict deadlines is an intrinsic part of journalism. With so much competition among several news channels, papers and magazines, time is of utmost importance. Bringing in information, creating articles within stringent time frames is taught early on in journalism courses to train students for the future.

Accuracy
Quality journalism is synonymous with authenticity. For viewers to be able to trust a journalist, they should always try their best to get the facts right as best as they can. Primary information can be a tricky source, however the pursuit to seek the truth will get you a long way ahead, and ultimately it will give you an edge over others. Always double check the information, and leave no room for errors.

Passion
The secret ingredient to succeed in any profession, as an unapologetic zeal! Learn to love the work you do, make things exciting and challenging for yourself, and strive to learn new things every day. Perseverance is the key; do not give up even if everything is pulling you back. Journalism courses in India from AAFT train their students to withstand the hardest of challenges, since Indian journalism is an extremely complicated profession, with the country’s diverse culture, languages, religions; a plethora of issues face the country.

A journalist must develop objective thinking, detached from bias, so that they are able to stream out correct facts from sources.

Yet Another Exciting Career - Sports Journalism

I am sure you have noticed and even read the sports column that every popular newspaper has these days. This column contains news about all important sports events happening around the world. The collection and collation of all sports related information is the work of sports journalists. The facts are then presented in a manner easily understood by the sports enthusiasts. You might have taken heed of the sports tab in the modern day news applications for phones. In fact, there are separate applications dedicated only to sports. All this requires efforts and coordination. Sport journalism is immensely popular across all countries of the world, because sports fanatics don’t like to be unaware of any piece of information about their favourite sport, sportsperson, or team/club.

Even though there are a few good institutes offering various journalism courses in India, no particular institute really specializes in sports journalism. You may be very good with words but if you are not a sports lover and follower, it would be practically impossible for you to appeal to the viewers/readers. In order to write or present a story, the sports journalists also need to be aware of the rules of the game. These journalists are often sent to watch live matches so that the information they present is absolutely credible.

Sports Journalism In India

There are various categories of journalists under sports journalism. You could be a sports reporter, columnist, editor or a sub-editor. A reporter usually reports the updates related to a sport(s). He reports facts like-who won the match, his/her ranking, difference in scores etc. A columnist, on the other hand, writes objectively on any sports related issue. The responsibilities of a sports editor/sub-editor are similar to those of other editors but these revolve solely around sports.

If you wish to be a sports journalist, you could pursue a degree in journalism from any reputed Indian institute of masscommunication. It would help you form your base and you can then go on to become a sport journalist in future.

Sports journalism is an integral part of journalism across all nations of the world. There is probably no nation devoid of sports followers/enthusiasts. Sports journalism caters to the needs of these people who love to learn more about the ongoing matches, their favourite sportsperson/club/team, and any other associated events. This genre of journalism usually consists of people who have a strong passion for sports. 

Step Up....to the (Endless) World of Journalism

The layman may have a very restricted understanding of what journalism is all about. Well, let me tell you –journalism isn’t just about news articles in the papers; it’s so much more than that. So open up eyes and step in to the wonderful and exciting world of journalism! It’s sure to give you an adrenalin-rush, if you’re looking at signing up for Journalism Courses, so hold on tight!

Like everything in life, journalism comes in varying shapes and sizes (just like all the myriad Journalism and mass communication courses in India). Look at it this way, how many things are there in the world? For just about everything that exists under the sun, there’s a journalist writing or talking about it. You have your travel journalists writing about different cities, villages, countries and all the seven seas. You have food journalists writing about all things delicious that the world has to offer. You have your fashion journalists writing about all the latest trends… The list is endless. But let’s take a little look at it, shall we?

Growing Opportunities in Journalism

While actual Journalism Courses would definitely be able to tell you better (and more), I’ll take a humble shot at it! First you have all the broad facets of journalism such as print journalism, photo journalism, multimedia journalism, and broadcast journalism. Then these pillars of journalism are broken down further into different genres. To be quite honest, there are so very many types that the letters of the alphabet aren’t enough to categorize!

So if you’re interested in Journalism Courses In India, I’d suggest you do your homework and read up further (very, very extensively), on all the different kinds of journalism. There are really no limits to what a journalist’s career might entail. But here are some of the genres within journalism that are basically different spheres of life that journalism tries to cover and present to the world in beautifully formed sentences with impeccable grammar and syntax!

From A-Z, journalism has a anchor in every alphabet. There’s Art Journalism, Business Journalism, Crime/Civic/Culture/Community/Cyber Journalism, Defense Journalism, Education/Environment Journalism, Fashion/Food/Finance Journalism… You get the point, don’t you? Journalism is as exhaustive as is life. And that’s what journalism is really all about.

Whatever be the type of journalism, what it essentially is, is a narrative of the different facets of life itself, presented to the general public. Journalism is just a really exhaustive report on life!