Modern age can be referred to as the age of communication. The Communication industry and technology have exceptionally bloomed in the past few years and has helped unify the world.
Mass Communication has brought up brilliant and paradigm career opportunities for aspiring students who are looking forward to working in the dynamic fields offered by this sector. Mass Communication comprises an integral part which is journalism. Though it holds a major proportion in Mass communication, it is not limited to journalism alone.
Talking about Mass Communication that works predominantly on mass media, is the reality of the modern world covering all aspects of human life. Students can explore to the farthest levels of their creativity working as a media person or journalist as that value flows from its purpose, to provide people with verified information they can use to make better decisions. It also brings along the most important and systematic process of discipline of verification that journalists use to find not just the facts, but also the truth about the facts.
What makes journalism different than other forms of communication?
The theory of the interlocking public:
The splintering of mass media audiences and the migration of information to thousands of niche web sites catering to audiences in bulk is further evidence that everyone is interested, and expert, in something. The diversity and magnitude of the public, in fact, is its strength. A mix of greater number of individuals is usually much wiser than a public comprising just the elite or one segment of special interest.
The wisdom of decision-making by an interlocking public is embedded in the notion that government by the people means citizens have the duty to keep themselves informed. This vision of governance is central to the notion that journalism has to be pluralistic.
Discipline of verification:
- Journalists often describe the essence of their work as finding and presenting the facts and also the truth about the facts. The elements of journalism have a scientific approach to get the right facts. Called the 'discipline of verification', its intellectual foundation rests on three core concepts of transparency, humility and originality.
- Transparency means show your work so readers can decide for themselves why they should believe it. The journalist’s job is to provide information in such a way that people can assess it and then make up their own minds what to think. By giving the audience the background on how you arrived at a certain conclusion, you allow them to replicate the process for themselves.
- Humility refers to keeping an open mind. Being in this field, one needs to keep an open mind not only about what they hear, but also about their own ability to understand what it means. A career like journalism welcomes utmost modesty without giving a room to arrogance.
- Originality indicates working honestly for oneself. This requires the ability to research and the desire of knowing more about eventualities in order to generate the best of the results.
- Out-of-Box-Thinking in order to analyse the trends and situations that the journalist must explore, the areas of concern with an open mind and in an impartial way with attributing factors responsible in terms of the magnitude of the problem and always come up with solutions. Bear in mind that the journalist must always remain a “committed observer.”
Playing with words
You must develop your writing skills right from day one if you want to be successful in this play. Be a wordsmith, the one that everyone would love to have in their organisation. Other than writing for newspapers, developing your writing skills can take you forward in various fields like copy writing for advertisements, blog writing, writing for online media, generating press releases in Public Relations, writing scripts for T.V programs and news. Last but not the least, writing skills can help you set a full fledged career in the print media.
Get that Tech
Keep yourself updated about the latest technologies in the electronic and the online media. Due to the emerging trends of online media and electronic media, it is very effective and helpful to have the knowledge of how to handle a camera and edit audio and video recordings. Though, all this is taught if you pursue mass communication, but being well informed would be a cherry on top.A degree in Mass Communication can get you the most glorified and well paid jobs as this sector doesn’t seem to slow down anytime sooner. The mass communication industry has seen growth in a multi-faceted way and does not believe in any retard age belief.
(The author, Dr. D. J. Pati is the Dean, Academics, at Institute of Management Studies, Noida, one of the leading Management Institutes in the country having a specialised course in Journalism & Mass Communication)