June 2022

Dear Students,

“The Institute’s mission is to educate students in a broad range of skills and concepts involving the gathering, editing and presentation of information, and prepare them for a career in journalism.”

Since 2000, IIJNM has made steady progress in offering an excellent journalism curriculum suited to the practice of the profession. With experienced faculty from India and abroad, media lab and state-of-the art TV and radio studios, students get the best there is to prepare for a good start in their new career. As an independent institution not affiliated with or run by any one newspaper or media organization, we are able to maintain wider association within the industry.

If you have come to IIJNM to discover yourself and to learn about others, and to tell through your work what you have learned, there is no better journalism school in India than this institution.

What are we trying to teach you at IIJNM?

First, the obvious. The craft of journalism: how to cover a story, be a good reporter, do the research properly, and write well. I hope you will examine some of the crucial questions of our time affecting our community, India and the world. You must also learn to appreciate the full breadth of individual freedom and expression, of equality, and human justice.

Learn to differentiate between just and unjust laws, between the use of power for good as opposed to evil and oppression, between transparent expressions of truth versus pronouncements for propaganda, between social justice and injustice, and between good and evil. I hope you will develop the critical faculties for making those clear distinctions, from a moral base devoid of ignorance.

Indian journalism is a vibrant profession, constantly striving to find its rightful place within a democracy in transition. The media is drawn in different directions between its role to inform the people, and its attempt to increase advertising revenues, readership and viewers at any cost. With increased concern on the part of citizens, we can hope that our media will challenge vigorously and constructively the wisdom and practices of our politicians and bureaucrats.

In conclusion, what are the vital characteristics needed of a great journalist? Needless to say, you must learn the skills to be a good reporter and writer. You must dig into the story, find the truth, and present your material eloquently and interestingly to the reader/viewer/listener.  In doing all these, understand the issues that really matter to the people, cover them well, and stimulate a dialogue with and among your readers and viewers. Finally, you must not just be a journalist but something more than that — a professional journalist with personal integrity.

At IIJNM, we strive to offer the best curriculum, and train you for a successful career in journalism. Judging from our past graduates, the media profession has already come to recognize the quality of our programs and the students. I hope you will commit yourself to excelling in this exciting career.

Thank you.

Kanchan Kaur, Dean