Broadcast Journalism
ABOUT THE COURSE
Through the Broadcast Journalism program, you will discover and master the best techniques of reporting, writing and editing broadcast news and feature stories. You will learn the skills to shoot and record interviews, plan and execute news stories, and anchor bulletins and programs. You will also get an insight into the nuances of editing and news presentation.
Students of Broadcast Journalism gain these skills through a blend of theoretical and practical courses and workshops. The changing media industry expects all journalists to be proficient with the skills involved in all mediums of news production. What you produce goes online at the end of every production day on The CityCast.
The curriculum listed below offers, in addition to core courses, an array of elective courses from which you may choose to custom-design a program consistent with your areas of interest. No other journalism college has comparable offerings of professional courses to prepare you adequately for an excellent career start. The stream you choose and the courses you select will give you a competitive edge over others in your job.
Students who take Television News Features as an elective will discover the magic of the long form story—and its endless possibilities.
REQUIREMENTS
| Core courses | Area of Specialisations (Choose one specialisation from the following list) | Electives (Choose four electives from the following list) |
Reporting and Writing for Broadcast This course is a requirement for those concentrating in television. Students learn reporting and writing techniques. They learn to recognize what makes news, come up with ideas and report. The emphasis is on getting the facts, verification and balance. This leads to the scripting process, including broadcast style. The emphasis is for students to learn to write for the audio-visual medium, keeping their audiences in mind at all times. Tools of Television This course is a requirement for those in the television stream. Students learn the techniques of shooting and editing. They use international, industry standard video editing software such as Media Composer and production software like i-news in intensive practical sessions each week. Ethical and Legal Issues in Journalism This required course for all students explores the social role of journalism and the journalist from legal, ethical and economic perspectives. It examines the current and historic conflicts between journalists, government and the legal establishment. Issues such as libel, privacy, prior restraint against publishing the news, protection of sources, the right to gather news and national security are explored. Other issues include fairness in journalism and balanced reporting, and ethical considerations in the setting of the news agenda. Convergence Across Media In today’s world, a reporter could be asked to shoot and edit videos (traditionally a part of the broadcast medium), write a text-based article (for print or online) and bring these seemingly diverse aspects together online. This core course ensures that students learn to tell stories in multiple mediums through a single platform, never mind the stream they are specializing in. Critical Thinking in Journalism A journalist does not work independent of the society. While s/he reports on it, s/he is also a part of it. An ability to comprehend, analyze and evaluate unfamiliar material quickly, and think critically is as much a core journalism competency as the ability to identify the news and report on it. In order to be able to think critically, young journalists need background and context. This core course required for all students explains the political, economic and societal contexts in which journalists operate and provides an understanding of democratic functions. It also helps provide paradigms to help the young journalist understand the bigger picture behind the story. (This course is required for all students across both semesters.)
| Business and Financial Reporting This course covers business and financial reporting and broad issues and trends within it. The course stresses reporting and writing techniques on business news, and how to interpret and present business and economic events. Development Journalism This course covers key developmental issues such as evaluating the impact of policies and programs. Students are required to examine one or more recent developmental projects and use them as case studies for critically reporting. International News Coverage This course deals with the techniques and difficulties of international news coverage. It teaches students to gain and report on international viewpoints, and balance with presentations by the national government. Political Reporting This course provides an in-depth analysis of the national and local political landscape. Topics include party politics, campaigns and elections, political propaganda, lobbying and special interests, and other areas. | Television News Features & Documentary Students report and produce stories ranging in length from five to ten minutes, designed for news, magazine and documentary-style programmes. Students work in small teams on feature stories, investigative reports and profiles. Covering Health and Environmental Issues Health issues include those related to the field of medicine, delivery of healthcare, and environmental health. Environmental issues include local and global problems related to pollution, contamination, adulteration and other. The relationship between health and environment is also discussed. Students will be required to report on stories dealing with health and environment problems currently faced by the Bangalore community. Covering Science and Technology Science and technology have become very much a part of our lives that the two are now inseparable. Information technology, for instance, has virtually taken over our daily tasks through devices such as personal computers, mobile phones and automated banking. The media recognizes the need to talk about technology in simple, layman terms so that the general public can understand even complex issues. Many newspapers have introduced technology pages, and more television channels have begun to devote more than a few hours a week to technology news. Some magazines have appointed Science and Technology correspondents. Bangalore is a hub of scientific research institutions and IT related-business activities. Apart from hardware and software, business processing and outsourcing have become a very important aspect of business. IIJNM students are expected to find informative stories from the technology and science sector. Students will study the impact of IT, as well as breakthroughs in bio-technology and medical technology, and learn to report on them in a simple, clear style. Magazine Writing Long-form narrative writings of the form that have appeared in major national and international magazines will be explored. What makes a magazine story different from newspaper reporting? Narrative energy, the story-telling voice, the shift from observation to insight and interviewing techniques are some of the discussion topics. All students with concentration in magazine publishing are required to take this course. Investigative Reporting in Broadcast Students learn to write investigative articles and produce video coverage about government policy implications, public and private practices that impact the public, and activities that are not generally known by digging into not-so-readily available materials, and by interviewing the players involved – in search of facts that are hidden, contradictions and misrepresentations. Examples of major investigations conducted by journalists, investigative reporters and reputed organizations form the basis of the study. Sports Reporting Much more is involved in sports and games these days than who won, who lost and why. Complex questions involve the sociology, the psychology and the business of sport, and perhaps more importantly, the ethics of sport. Opinion and Editorial Writing Students are introduced to editorials and opinions expressed in the media. The course teaches how the subject is chosen, formulated, and presented. The style of writing editorials and opinions is also covered. Covering the Arts and Cultural Events Students will learn to cover different aspects and forms of art, and learn its importance to daily life. The world of ideas is another related area that is both compelling and important to human experience. Further, the impact of “established,” “popular” and “emerging” cultures on society will be examined. Covering Social and Religious Issues These two distinct but inter-related subject areas are of considerable importance to a sustainable and peaceful culture and society. Students will learn to write with an edge about issues of poverty, social class, labour, crime, religion and spirituality, traditions, environment and a host of other topics. Rural Reporting This course calls for students to carry out their beat reporting in rural areas on issues that are part of the daily life in villages. Problems faced by the rural population are examined, and issues dealing with farming, rural education and vocational training, role of women and the administration of villages are some of the stories covered. Podcasting: Telling audio stories In covering a variety of topics from politics and sports to art and music, traditional media organizations (such as BBC and the Guardian) and independent producers are embracing podcasting as a way to reach their audiences with long-form audio content. Podcast audience is largest among the 18-34 demographic. With increase in Internet penetration in new markets in India, this medium is set to explode in its usage. This course will teach students how to script, record episodes and interviews, edit and publish podcasts on a variety of topics and platforms. The course will aid students looking to work for radio and multimedia organisations in this rapidly emerging media stream. It will also allow them to tell independent stories that the mainstream media may not have covered adequately. Writing for the Wires The digital age has made swiftness or urgency as an most important facet of journalism. People need the latest news immediately. Yet, in this haste, accuracy must not suffer. This course will train students to provide real-time news flashes and stories, while balancing the need for speed with fairness and precision. This course is geared to the real-time nature of reporting to enable students to seek rapidly emerging jobs in digital mediums, financial wire agencies, online portals, television channels and more. Social Media Communication The social media age is upon us. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a myriad of other social media platforms have disrupted the traditional media model. Journalists and media organisations now need to be savvy in social media to succeed. This course will greatly benefit students in communicating with target audiences and building relevant social media content for news and opinion dissemination, PR strategy, branding and marketing skills. It will also teach how to avoid the many pitfalls of using and relying on social media. Telling Data stories using Graphic Tools Data is often the source of news stories. It can also be one of the tools with which a story is told. Data offers journalists many new possibilities — from using digital tools to automate the process of gathering and combining information, and using software and data to find connections between thousands of documents and sources. Data journalism further helps to simplify a complex story for the audience through the use of attractive and easy-to-understand infographics. This course will teach students how to find relevant data using web-scraping tools, analyzing data with Excel and Python, and visualizing data with a variety of software. |
FEES AND PAYMENTS
| One-year Postgraduate Diploma (PGDJ) program (Two Semesters) | |
| Total tuition fee | Rs. 4,80,000 |
| Hostel fees (housing and meals) | |
| Housing fees: | Rs. 16,500 per semester |
| Meals: | Rs. 57,500 per semester |
Broadcast Department Head
