Questions That Boggle Every Journalism Aspirant

Academic courses have almost taken a backseat, and professional courses are too much in demand. Kids these days are more informed and driven over passion. They would rather convert their passion to profession than letting it die a stale death. Of all the courses, journalism is one stream that students have chosen widely. Every year almost 10,000 kids appear for mass communication entrances, and the rising numbers have created a cut-throat competitive scenario out there. However, there are millions of questions that cross minds leaving them confused.

•Whether fees is affordable or not? This is an obvious question since these courses are a tad bit expensive. If your parents aren’t in a situation to pay the fees, try and look for education loans. Or maybe you can borrow money from a close relative and repay them in installments.


•Am I ready for 24x7? – Jobs in media line are dynamic. They are not stringent corporate jobs that go 9 to 5. Being a journalist is a “full time job”, and there might be days when you will go sleepless. But the rewards are endless. After all, pleasure comes with a price.

•Do I good need speaking skills? – Of course! If you are shy to go up on a stage, how will you interview people during talk show, or address the entire nation while covering breaking news. In journalism colleges in India you will get tons of opportunities to participate in debates, speeches, talk shows etc. Do not shy away from them. Develop leadership skills.

•Is brushing up general knowledge necessary? – Yes, it certainly is. Being a journalist you need to have an unbiased prerogative, yet in depth knowledge on various topics. You need to know what is happening, at least in your own country. You should also have the knack to cull out information from legal sources possible to position your story strongly.

And yet the most important question – should I follow my dream? Certainly, for dreams keep us alive. Start applying for mass communication colleges in India and do not look back.

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.

5 Novels Every Journalism Student Should Read

“The habit of reading is the only enjoyment in which there is no alloy; it lasts when all pleasures fade.”
                                                   -Anthony Trollope

Journalism and Literature are two subjects that almost go hand in hand, thanks to the main idea behind them – writing. The interests of the subject matter intermingle together in a compelling way. In fact there are so many established journalists and the ones in making who have pursued literature first and journalism later to have the best of both worlds. The parallel between the two is to get hands on a few books that either tell an enchanting tale of the world at once or prepare the writer within you for storytelling!

Here are a few books that every student pursuing journalism and mass communication courses should read at least once:-

1.The Art and Craft of Feature Writing – Written by William Blundell, the novelist charts how to write long, in-depth stories that keep the readers engaged. Blundell shows how they overcame the challenge of writing engaging content at Wall Street Journal.

2.Bel Ami – Beautifully written by Guy De Maupassant, the narrative talks of a former military man who somehow becomes a journalist through manipulation and other means that are unprofessional. His career graph attains new heights only because of acts such as preying on successful women.

3.In Cold Blood – This novel by Truman Capote is said to be the masterpiece in narrative journalism. The novelist expresses an account of a small town quadruple murder with masterful strokes and details that sends chills down the spine.

4.On Writing Well – William Zinsser through this book expresses the basic fundamentals of writing and how to connect with readers. He tells the value of concise and conversational sentences made of precise word. He talks about keeping the sentences simpler yet precise to connect with readers.

5.Berlin Diary – This book is the first hand account of rise of Nazi as witnessed by journalist William Shirer. Rewritten from Shirer’s CBS radio and diary, the novel conveys dilemma and reality of beginning of World War II and talks of the daunting courage of a reporter at work.

Here are the few exclusive picks that students studying in mass communication colleges in India should get their hands on and derive life lessons. 

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.

Mass communication: A Degree that Opens Door to Some Awesome Careers !!

Just another week and annual exams for most of the courses will be over. It is that time of the year when thousands of students are busy preparing for the entrance tests to get admission in the college and course of their choice. As believed by many, engineering, law and medicine are not the only disciplines in which you can make a great career. There are a number of other courses available at graduation and post-graduation level that can assure you of a successful career. Students can choose a degree as per their individual interests, aspirations and desires. When choosing, they should also check various job opportunities that the degree offers. One such degree that offers amazing jobs opportunities and at the same time opens range of career options is a degree in mass communication. It has an edge over other degrees and opens some amazing career options for students.

Digital photography, print journalism, advertising, public relations, radio, web journalism, event management, film making, are some of the careers that you can pursue after a degree in mass comm. Students can also build a career in social media. Web journalism is a new field which requires good writing skills and is perfect for those who love spending time on the internet. Students can also join TV journalism and become news or celebrity reporters. But for a great career, it is important to do your studies from a reputed college. There are a number of mass communication colleges in India that offer excellent degree and diploma programs in mass communication.

If you are interested in diploma in mass communication, you can join one year post-graduation diploma programs in TV journalism, still photography, advertising and brand communication. Nowadays, there are short term three month courses in sound recording and radio production as well.

                                                         

The Many Reasons to do Mass Communication Course !!

The area of mass communication has in the recent years, blown up by the massive interest in this field by youngsters. The fact that it is largely a creative field, not really connected to the tougher and common subjects, like English, science and maths, had made the students excited to venture out into these unknown topics. 

Also the tremendous growth in the communication technology and media has really opened up a lot of job opportunities for graduating students. The whole world has become assimilated into one unified global village. And that is one of the main reasons that the study of mass communication as not only a course, but also a career path has become important.

There are many excellent mass communication colleges in India, that boast of professional faculty, new and unique teaching methods and courses that might not be available everywhere else. Now, one of the misconceptions now just parents, but also students have is confusing mass communication with journalism. It is true, that journalism is a part of it, but that is not all there is to it. 

Mass communication is essentially what its name suggest, the ability to communicate to the masses through the different platforms available in our reality. Here are a few reasons why one should opt for this course:

1.    Many Choices:

As one completes school, they are immediately bombarded with questions on what they are going to do next, where will they be studying, what they will be studying. And many a time, a student has no idea what exactly they want to do. For them the course of mass communication is excellent, since it will allow them to traverse through the different parts of mass communication. One can choose to pursue journalism, and apply for the top journalism colleges in India, for their higher studies, or they can go into film making and media industry.

2.    Bookish Knowledge Not Required:

It is true, that while one needs to study and give exams in this course only, but for the most part the emphasis is on the practical knowledge. Group projects, presentations, getting to do the field work are more important here. But at the same time, one should not devalue the textual knowledge and give balanced attention to both. This course is more like a professional course and as such, it will teach by making the students actually work in that environment.

3.    Community Bonding:

One learns how to work with large groups and teams in this course. Since the ultimate aim is to communicate to the masses in a way everyone will connect, thus a lot of the courses in the degree of mass communication require big groups and team work. 

How to get connected with masses?? Four Factors and An Example !!

We all know that mass communication is all about delivering a piece of news or information to the mass, and we all understand the importance of mass media in the today's world. There is not  a day without the awareness of what's happening in different parts of the world and we cannot imagine a day when media fails to update us.

How Maggi Got Connected, Disconnected and ....Connected !!

Communication is the essence of the media and the mass communicationcolleges in India teach the students different forms of communication which are used to reach out to the audience.

Here's a list of some of the conventional forms of simple communication and the ways in which media is using all of them.

·         Verbal communication: A verbal communication involves words, sound and language. It is used as a powerful component of mass media because public speaking always drives audience. The journalists and reporters are the examples of people who use verbal communication to deliver information.

·         Written communication: This is the traditional form of mass communication and it is evident from the popularity of newspapers since we-don't-remember when. A number of people still make masscommunication careers in the print media. The requirement of article writers for newspapers would never fade!

·         Visual communication: It is said that a visual memory lasts longest, way longer than the other kinds of memories created and hence, it is an excellent form of communication to transfer news. The pictures of a bus accident or the after-effects of a bomb blast are often combined with the verbal and written forms of communication to make the news understood better.

·         Non verbal communication: It is not typically used singly as a form of information in mass media, but generally is combined with other forms to give an added effect. It includes body language, signs, postures etc.

Functions of mass communication !!

In this faced paced world, it would be no exaggeration to say that communication to the masses happens on a minutely basis. Be it through the old-school mediums of mass communication like television, radio, or newspaper or through the latest and most happening medium of social networking websites, we are almost always communicating.

One of my friends who pursued her education from one of the best mass communication colleges in India explained to me the benefits of communicating in this era of technology:

top journalism colleges in India

1. Exchange of information
Oblivious of what’s happening in the world around me, I always get to know about the latest piece of news through social networking websites. The online blogs, comments coming directly from the people, real time images, etc. are some of the ways that make me appear more knowledgeable.

2. Exchange of opinions
Owing to the popularity of various social media platforms, even those people who hesitate to speak out in public, manage to freely share their opinions on online forums. My friend having studied in one of the top journalism colleges in India, regularly participates in such online discussions.

3. Cultural education
The popular blogging websites, global online social networks, and other online forums allow us to learn more about the cultures of different nations.  By vicariously experiencing the cultures and traditions of different states and countries, we naturally come to respect the right and raise our voices against the wrong.

4. Entertainment
Mass communication does not need to be boring. Some of the blogging sites that I follow post such ingenious, brilliant, and yet informative blogs that the entertainment bit is always taken care of. Sharing videos is also an extremely popular and creative way of communicating with the masses. And unless it’s based on a serious topic, they are almost always entertaining.