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About Journalism

India is home to a range of journalism courses at various levels, viz. Diploma, Undergraduate, Postgraduate and PG Diploma. Aspirants across the nation have immense opportunities to pursue a lucrative and creative career option in the field of journalism. All aspiring to pursuing a course in the discipline will be able to train themselves and inculcate skills crucial to industry within a span of 1-3 years at the UG level and 1-2 years at the PG level.

There are different courses in the field of Journalism that vary depending on the objective of the programme and the university that is offering the programme. Before picking any programme, you must learn more about the credits and the curriculum that is opted by the respective institute.

Depending on your interest in the field, you, as an aspirant will be able to pursue an education in Print, Television and Digital/Online Journalism. Moreover, there are immense opportunities to venture out into other aspects of mass communication as well such as Film, Television and Radio production.

If you have made up your mind to get into either electronic media or print media, a journalism course is a path you must follow. Media has been an integral part of India be it through newspapers or through television. With good communication skills, either in Hindi or in English or other regional languages of the country, there is a lot of scope in the journalism as a career.

Types of Journalism Courses:

Check out the list of courses available in Journalism at the undergraduate and postgraduate level, in the table given below

Undergraduate Programmes	Duration	Postgraduate Programmes	Duration
Diploma in Journalism	1 Year	PGD in Journalism	1 Year
Diploma in Journalism and Mass Communication	2 years	PG Diploma in Radio and TV Journalism	1 Year
BA in Journalism	3 Years	PG Diploma in Print & Broadcast Journalism	1 Year
Bachelor of Journalism	3 Years	PG Diploma in Acting	1 Year
BA in Convergent Journalism	3 Years	PG Diploma in Direction and Screenplay Writing	1 Year
Bachelor in Journalism and Mass Communication	3 Years	PG Diploma in Editing, Sound Recording & Design	1 Year
BA in Mass Media	3 Years	MA in Journalism and Communication	2 Years
BA in Journalism and Communication Studies	3 Years	MA in Entertainment, Media and Advertisement	2 years
BA in Script Writing	3 Years	MA in Multimedia	2 Years
B.Sc in Mass Communication, Journalism and Advertising	3 Years	Masters in Communication	2 Years
B.Sc in Mass Communication and Journalism	3 Years	Masters in Journalism and Mass Communication	2 Years
Bachelor of Media Science	3 Years	M.Sc in Television and Film Production	2 Years

Journalism Eligibility Criteria

For Undergraduate Courses:

• You can apply for journalism courses after you have passed class 12 with a minimum of 50% marks from any stream (Science, Commerce or Arts).
• Some colleges require you to possess excellent communication skills, English speaking skills and writing skills.
• Admissions are done either on the basis of class 12 marks or on the basis of entrance tests (varies from university to university). Some colleges also take personal interviews to shortlist students.

For Postgraduate Journalism Courses:

• You must have a valid undergraduate degree of a duration of 3 / 4 / 5 Years, procured from a recognised university or educational institution.
• Candidates from all streams and disciplines are eligible to pursue the PG journalism courses offered by journalism institutions in India.
• Candidates may be required to have appeared for an entrance test conducted by the college/university offering the course.

Journalism Admission Processes

Admissions to the different journalism courses offered by the various prestigious journalism courses in the nation are either merit-based or entrance-based. Depending on the admission policy of each individual college, candidates are required to present the necessary documents and appear for separate admission and selection processes conducted by the institution. Here are the Journalism admission processes usually opted by the colleges.

Merit-Based Admissions

• Candidates are required to present the college/university with the appropriate documents to prove their eligibility to the respective courses, as outlined by individual colleges.
• Candidates may further be called for a Personal Interview and/or Group Discussion, as per the admissions guidelines of separate colleges.
• Based on the overall performance of the candidates in the different parameters including the past academic record, performance in the personal interview and/or group discussion will determine the admission status the aspirants.

Entrance-Based Admissions

• After submission of the application forms, aspirants will be called by the respective colleges for an entrance test conducted by the competent authority. On the stipulated date and time, candidates must appear at the specified test centres and attempt the exam.
• Soon after the test, the university or college will announce the results of the test and shortlist candidates for further selection processes based on the scores obtained in the test.
• Shortlisted candidates will then be called for a Personal Interview and/or Group Discussion, depending on the admission guidelines of the college/university.
• Prospective candidates will be shortlisted for admission based on their overall performance in the entrance test, personal interview and/or group discussion along with the past academic records.

Journalism Course Fees

For all those interested in pursuing an undergraduate or postgraduate course in the field of journalism, they have to pay an annual course fee of Journalism ranging anywhere between ?15,000 - ?3,00,000 per year. The average journalism course will depend on different parameters, especially such as the ownership of the institution, the level of the degree and the location of the institution among others. In most cases, journalism course fees in government colleges will be comparatively cheaper than that of a private institution.

Level of Degree	Annual Course Fee Range
Undergraduate Journalism Courses	19,000 - 3,00,000
Postgraduate Journalism Courses	15,000 - 2,80,000

Journalism Syllabus

Popular Subjects:

Language 1 (Native)	English	Introduction to Mass Communication
Fundamentals of Journalism	Media Laws & Indian Constitution	Reporting Methods
Editing Techniques	Media Management	Advertising & Public Relations
Basic Audio-Visual Media	Radio Broadcasting	History of Journalism
Media, Society & Development	Environment & Media	Media Criticism
Internet & New Media	Magazine Journalism	TV Broadcasting

Journalism Career Options and Job Prospects

Over the years, Journalism as a field of communication has grown and developed into the one point of connection for all people to access information. The scope of pursuing a career in the field of journalism is immense and can be lucrative in some cases. However, the field of journalism is tasking and strenuous to anyone who passionately wishes to pursue a career.

There are a lot of career options that you can consider after you have pursued journalism courses. For those of you who see themselves as editors of news agencies or anchoring media or news channels can gain a lot from pursuing journalism courses. Nonetheless, there are immense opportunities for a journalism graduate to pursue a stable career path in different areas of employment and job profiles. Here are some of the areas of employment applicable to a journalism graduate in India.

• TV Channels
• Newspapers
• Radio Stations
• Media Houses
• PR and Media Management Agencies
• Online Web Content Creation
• Digital Firms

Along with these, graduates will be able to pursue various job profiles under different organisations for various media and public relations matter. Some of the job profiles in the field of journalism include:

• Reporter
• Web Content Creator
• Journalist
• Producer
• Editor
• News Anchor
• TV Correspondent
• Radio Jockey
• Critic
• Columnist
• Feature Writer

There are several other positions available to an aspirant of the field, which can provide a stable and lucrative career path for a graduate of the field. Freshers earn around ? 2 lakh to ? 3 lakh per annum in this field. However, you can get good salaries after 3 to 4 years of experience in the journalism domain.

Moreover, depending on academic qualifications received by the candidate in the field, i.e. undergraduate or postgraduate qualifications, the career paths can result in better profiles and packages.

Apart from pursuing courses in the field of journalism, graduates of various journalism courses can also look into pursuing MBA, LLB and B.Ed programmes as well. Pursuing such courses may allow for higher packages and better job profiles as well.