Journalism has an indelible effect on our worldview – from global terrorism to the American presidential elections, celebrity scandal to the latest environmental disaster. Today, communication is acknowledged as the cornerstone of all progress. We have the details of an event in any corner of the world within a flash, do you think any time how actually we get news? Who are the people behind? How they get to know the information?  It’s none other but a “JOURNALIST”.  Many of you by this time may have imagined his looks as projected in some moves - with a beard, a bag on his shoulder, working hard for a story and being killed for reporting truth!

The times have changed, now every think is transparent. The job profile of a journalist is not same as before. “Satisfying news hunger no longer involves a twice daily diet of a morning newspaper and evening TV news bulletin: news comes in snack form, to be gazed, and at every level of quality; even to be programmed to order, to arrive, presorted, via your personal digital assistant” says Ian Hargreaves.
Working in print media is different when you are in electronic age. The major difference is how active you are to meet the deadline and to make an exclusive story. You may think now, how all this can be done and how to plan a career in journalism? Firstly, come out of the belief that journalists are born not made.  The starting of journalism and mass communication institutes and schools all over India is a sound testimony to this assertion. The dissemination of ideas – from source/ creator to destination/ user, from “lab to land” – is possible only via communication.

“Language is not a barrier if you want to communicate” the electronic age is providing broad opportunities in the regional media. If you are good at your mother tongue you needn’t be discouraged. The universities, professional institutions and regional media houses are offering training and certificate courses. 

Journalism is concerned with collection and dissemination of news through the different forms of media like print, electronic media and so on. This involves various areas of works like reporting, writing, editing, photographing, broadcasting or cable casting news items. In fat, the work profile may look easy on the paper but there is a lot of har work involved at every aspect of the job. The Universities and other professional institutions provide ambience to make a start to the profession but making big in the career will depend on your individual skills and talent. One can dream of becoming   Arun Sourie or Prannoy Roy or P  Sainath but reaching higher echelons in any profession needs a lot of talent, hard work and commitment as well.
Mass communication finds its place in higher education – in universities, professional institutions and colleges. Compared to other disciplines the course occupies a pride place as a key vehicle for national development.  All through the five-year plans there has been emphasis on turning out trained and skilled personnel for technological, scientific, industrial and agricultural development.
Even though the history of journalism courses in India dates back to 1942 with the establishment of department of journalism in Punjab University at Lahore (now in Pakistan), media related courses started in 1960s. The Indian Institute of mass communications and a few universities and institutions started courses in journalism, mass communication, Advertising, Public Relations and associated areas. With the globalization, the face of media has totally changed its nomenclature and even the educational institutions have framed the course content according to the professional needs and issues related to development of the country.

Why one should opt for this career?
As the nations are moving towards advanced growth there is a great need of communication. This communication can take any form – through news, advertising a product, building goodwill, managing event shows, personal selling, direct marketing, producing television and radio programs, making films, creating animations pictures and so on. The list is endless, this is the career where the individual should be active, enthusiastic, communicative, and of course creative. As a journalist you can be witness to the development that is taking place in the society.  “As the software industry is growing, communication is playing an important role, mass communication is a potential course includes creativity and active role of the individual” said Dr. C. Vani, Head, Department of communication and journalism, Sri Padmavathi Women’s University, Tirupati 
The world is in the midst of an information explosion. The present youth should be sensitized to the new communication technologies which will enable them to face the explosion in a better way. The course offers potential for students to find employment in a range of careers in reputed media organizations like newspaper houses, radio stations, television channels, advertising agencies, government information, public relations, event management, NGOs and MNCs specialized in communication programmes, technical writing, media entrepreneurs.
The contemporary students of journalism are fortunate to study and work with the latest infrastructure in the country. Malaika, a journalism student from Loyola Academy says that “the course is very much practical-oriented where we are involved in producing short films by our own, every student gets the opportunity to get trained with the professional team that visits the college regularly”

“More than the class room teaching, we are looking at the practical aspects in the course which we are getting through practical hours and internships”  says Vasundra of Sri Padmavathi women’s University

Educational Requirements
The requirements vary from one university to other i.e. for doing Bachelor’s degree in journalism the requirement can be from any discipline of intermediate, for post-graduate degree in journalism/mass communication, Bachelor’s degree in any stream, some universities take the bachelor’s degree in journalism or with the same as a subject. Additional course work, specialized training or experience, fieldwork or internship increases one’s opportunities in the field. Some institutes also provide one-year certificate courses in journalism for which eligibility is 10+2. There are also courses in specialized areas of journalism like sports, television, photo, press law etc. 

No course or training can claim to make one, a journalist. The courses train persons in the technical aspects only, to ensure one’s success in the field one must have an inborn ability to write and produce new stories in correct, concise and interesting style.

The latest trend in this regard is that the media houses are taking graduates as trainees by conducting entrance examination and trainees having flair for writing are selected and employed. In other words, the formal academic qualification for being a reporter, copy writer or correspondent is not essential. 

Personal Attributes
A prospective journalist  should have an inquisitive mind, will power, an aptitude for presenting information in an accurate, concise and effective manner, organize their thoughts and to express themselves clearly both orally and in writing. At the same time he must be tactful, confident and organised while interviewing people from all walks of life. They must have the ability to sniff relevant facts from the irrelevant. The ability to accept criticism and willingness to do considerable rewriting are also necessary.

Information, education and entertainment are the three objectives of the media should be, but what is happening is channels are having more proportion of entertainment and print media having advertisements than news. Sensationalism has become a    trend in the present media. The balance of news is lost, the issues which are to pay attention are ignored. The sensitization of the students within the course enables the students to know the importance of selecting the news items.

The boom of electronic media has changed the way the news is being reported from the event.  It’s not that a reporter visits the place of event leisurely and files the story late evening. The way the reporter works has changed, he should be on his toes with information at his finger tip all the time. With the competition from the “me-too” channels, the exclusive stories and “who is first” to break the news is the order of the day. To choose this career one must be very active and communicative.

Course content
All universities in different countries provide the basics of the areas of work. But only few institutions are named immediately when we talk about a course. This is because of the infrastructure of the department, Faculty, specializations etc. the course content varies from one university to another apart from basic papers that are compulsory for the course as approved by UGC. When you are looking out for the best place where your skills can be moulded and can be focused.
 The first thing you might think after your intermediate is whether to continue in India or fly off to any other country. But today no need to have second thought when you want to continue in our mother country because our Universities and professional institutions are well equipped more over we can complete the course sitting before computer.
Job Prospects
Lachlan Murdoch said “Good journalism is good business practice; good business supports great journalism”. If you choose journalism as career there is ample number of opportunities.  With the privatization of media houses today you can get placed with newspapers, periodicals and magazines, central information service, press information bureau, websites, AIR and TV channels like Doordarshan, ZEE TV, Star TV etc. At the same time you can do freelancing or take up this career as a part time employment along with any other field of work. 

Career Options in Journalism
In the words of Fr. Luthraj, Head, Department of Mass communication, Loyola Academy ‘The present course in B.A. Mass communication at Loyola Academy, Secundrabad is the only college in Hyderabad with infrastructure focusing on the Audio and Television production, trained in anchoring, interviews and online production. This has and is enabling students in getting placed in more challenging jobs in media organizations”  Journalists can work as editors, reporters, columnists, correspondents, staff or freelance writer, photojournalists, proofreaders, news analysts etc. in print (newspapers and magazines) and electronic (Radio, Television and Web) media.
 
Editing
Editor: In the editing field there are various positions :
Chief Editor/Resident Editor: In charge of over-all functions of the publication and decides on the editorial policy and the content of publications. Resident editor is in charge of a particular edition (Eg: Chennai edition, Mumbai edition etc.). 

Personal attributes: He should have excellent journalistic vision- awareness of the major or minor political and current affairs, communication skills, leadership quality and long term experience as an editor. 

Sub Editor: Assist chief editor in selecting & sorting the contents. It involves re-writing stories to fit the space assigned, improve the language, insert punctuation etc.

 News /Feature Editor: Decides on the news to be published in the newspaper each day. He collects news, controls the network of correspondents, reporting staff and other news sources, allocate assignments and attend editorial conferences. 

Associate Editor: He directs the preparation of a section of a newspaper, magazine or a television or radio segment.
 
Personal attributes: Editors must have the ability to write & edit articles, take speedy decisions, a questioning mentality and an awareness of current affairs.

Job Prospects: They can find job with newspaper groups, publishers of magazines and journals, Indian Information Service of the Government, websites etc. 

Reporting
Reporter: Reports events as and when it occurs, attends press conferences, conduct interviews, visit sites of major occurrence and gather first-hand report and present them in an unbiased manner.
 
Chief reporter: In-charge of team of reporters, and assigns work to the reporters.
Personal attributes: Reporter should have an analytic approach, perseverance, cool temperament, writing skill and self-confidence. He should have good contacts with various news resources and ability to sense news.
Correspondent/Special Reporters: Reporters for special purposes and their task involves reporting on a particular topic like politics, foreign affairs, sports, finance etc covering their area of expertise

WRITING
Writer: A writer chooses themes or subjects for written work, conduct research into the subject, assemble background material and obtain other necessary data. Writers may specialise in- Journalism, fiction writing; children’s books, educational textbook writing, historical writing and transferring oral histories into written form, humour or comedy writing and so on. In journalism, writers can be feature writers, leader writers, writers for multimedia and web and so on. 

Feature writer: Writing detailed stories or presents commentaries on specific news topics. They research and analyse facts and draw conclusions on a public-interest topic. Feature writing is more descriptive and detailed than news reporting. 

Leader Writer: He gives ideas on news topics in the editorial columns of newspapers or magazines and discusses prospects of improvement with trainee writers.

Writing for Multimedia and the Web: Writers are required in multimedia and the World Wide Web for writing news and other articles in precise text adaptive to the environment and communicate your ideas through graphics, animation etc it is an added advantage in this field. 

Columnist: They are writers who contribute regularly to a publication.

Critic: A critic needs to be well read, have adequate knowledge and experience in his respective field.

Photography
Photo Journalist or News Photographer: They are the visual reporters. Photo journalists accompany reporters on assignments to take pictures that support a news story, feature or interview. 

Fashion Journalist: It is through him that the general public gets to know the latest fashion trends. So, he/she should have excellent taste for fashion and keeps himself abreast with latest fashion news, consumer reaction to new collections, fashion shows, current and future trends in colour, design and fabric. 
Cartoonists and illustrators make a social or political comment on public figures or events in the form of a cartoon that is funny as well as witty. A cartoon is one man’s view of the world.

Other departments included in the publication of a newspaper or periodical are : production, advertising, legal affairs department, circulation and public relations.

Conclusion
Presently the course of journalism has taken a new dimension, on par with the international standards the course content and infrastructure is designed in India. Universities and professional institutions are taking a challenging role to update the course and train the students.

Apart from taking the class room and practical lecturers the students should utilize their free time in knowing new aspects of surrounding society, planning for documentary films, Visits rural India, the most important part is doing internship with the industry. It is not that a college has to direct the student during holidays, as a student you have more attention and access to the big media houses. And update yourself with the latest software for editing and presenting skills.

There are many other courses which are taking a specialized area in mass communication and journalism. For example, Mudra Institute of communication training the students in Advertising and Mass communication, the institute of Satyajit Ray is providing film making courses, Asian college of Journalism, Chennai training the students in the field of reporting, and presently the boom of animation industry which led to the growth of professional institutions like mushrooms for training students. The scope of building the career in journalism has broadened with the changing times. Today, the industry requires the individuals trained in this course to communicate or present their idea, product or service.

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