The last few years have seen a steep rise in the number of journalism schools. Over one hundred media schools have come up in the National Capital Region alone.
When you read their ad you are convinced that this is the right J-School for you. You may even apply. The chances are that you may even get selected. It is only after joining that you realise that you have made a mistake. The school is not what it said it was.
So what do you do? You want to be a journalist, and you want to join a good journalism programme. But how do you find the right media school?
Here are seven tips to find the right media school:
Tip 1:
Find a media school that employs experienced journalists as full-time faculty members. A major drawback of most of our J-schools is that they employ teachers who have never stepped in a newsroom. The result is that these teachers cannot teach practical skills. You will learn a lot of theory but you will not learn how to write a news report or edit a copy. But these are the skills that Editors seek.
Tip 2:
You should look at the fine print to decipher the practical component. Almost every J-School boasts of a lab newspaper. But scratch the surface and you will learn that the lab newspaper is produced once a year or maybe twice. This is not what you need. You should find a media school where the campus newspaper comes out at least twice a week, if not more.
Similarly, you must check how much work the students are allowed to do on the school website. You can find this by browsing the media school website. Prefer a school that encourages its students to work with text, audio and video on the net. The profession needs journalists who multi-task. You too need to become one if you are to be valued.
Tip 3:
Find out the Faculty-student ratio. Do not join a media school which has less than one teacher for every 25 students. The chances are that your teacher will not be able to pay proper attention to you.
Tip 4:
Today you cannot become a good journalist unless you know how to use the new tools of journalism. It is not enough to know how to use a computer. You are going to be valued in newsrooms if you can use QuarkXpress to make pages, Adobe Photoshop to crop, size and edit photographs, Audacity software to produce podcasts or Final Cut Pro to edit videos. So, try and find a media school that teaches you all these skills.
A good start is to do an equipment check. Does the media school own enough computers? What is the number of digital recorders, cameras or handycams? Which software is used to impart technical skills?
Tip 5:
Before paying the fees, you must try and meet at least a couple of old students. They should be able to provide you answers on questions about equipment, technology, teaching methods etc.
Tip 6:
Please avoid media schools that promise 100 per cent placement. They are trying to fool you. How can any media school know how many jobs will be available a year from now? Even the Editors and HR Managers can’t forecast the job availability. So, it is best to find a college that holds campus interviews. Your chances of getting a job in such a media school are higher than in colleges that promise 100 per cent placement.
Another good yardstick is to go through the placement list. You will immediately realise which newspapers and TV channels hire from that media school. Here too, you should look at the numbers. You should find out as to how many companies come to the media school? More importantly how many companies come regularly?
Tip 7:
Do not attach much weight to those media schools who make much noise about internships. These schools are not doing you a favour. Most Indian media outlets take in interns as a routine.
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