The Prospect of Journalism :- Job Opportunities and Career Options in Journalism

Newspapers and magazines are sprouting every day; the job opportunities too. Around 40 million newspapers are sold , daily. This announces the media culture of World. The popularity of newspaper is directly proportional to population and literacy rates. A newspaper organization requires several services for its successful functioning. It demands the effort of efficient people. The three main departments of a newspaper’re

1. The administrative department
2. The mechanical department
3. The editorial department

 For a journalist, knowledge is the strength, weapon and the capital. Dedicated services of reporters, photographers, subeditors and subject experts are essential for a news story.

Four people’ll be having four different interpretations of an incident. Reporter should analyze the fact and should report it in an objective manner. Investigative journalism puts newspapers on par with visual media. This is more of watch dog journalism. It requires the reporter to dig out the facts and be bold enough to face the consequences.

• A reporter must’ve news sense.
• Reporters should be creative and authoritative.

Specialization is there in reporting too: court procedure reporting, parliamentary procedure reporting, share market reporting, sports reporting, film reporting etc. Experience, personal contacts, language etc. makes a successful reporter.

Subeditor/ Editor:

Information flows from every direction to a newspaper organization. The editor decides the print-worthiness of a report. He prioritizes the umpteen reports that come to his desk. Right from the choice of news, its length, number of columns, catchy title, title font—the editor decides all these. An editor should make a report readable, select a photograph that best suits the report, guide the cartoonist to come up with a befitting cartoon, and slant the reports according to the tone of the newspaper organization.

Journalism courses make it possible for aspiring people to study different subjects related to journalism, get real time experience from newspapers and get to know veteran journalists. It’s always good to’ve professional qualification. For a journalist, the bigger his contact circle is the better. Personal contacts help a journalist in collecting valuable information, beforehand.

Besides newspapers, opportunities await a journalist at family, sports, film and cultural magazines. Those who have studied journalism can easily find a job in some publications for women/children, professional journals, house journals, advertisement booklets, news agencies, information and broadcast department or public relations department.

Mass Communication and Journalism or MCJ is the recognized qualification for a journalist. Full time/part-time 1 year diploma courses and two-year P.G. courses are there. Universities run BA. courses too.

Institutions offering Journalism Courses:

• 1 year P.G. diploma
• Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi
• Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad
• Asian School of Journalism, Chennai
• Kerala, Calicut, Mangalore, Kannur Universities (Two year MCJ P.G. program)
• Mahathma Gandhi University, Kottayam (Self-financing course)
• Kerala Press Academy, Kochin
• Press Clubs (P.G. diploma)

Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan offers one year evening classes for journalism. Kottayam, Trichur and Calicut are the centers. This is recognized by central government. Arts and science colleges in Kerala offer Journalism as main or optional for degree courses.