New Delhi: Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting has said that students aspiring to become journalists in future must ensure that news and views are not mixed. In order to be objective, every budding young journalist should have an open mind to acquire maximum knowledge to present the perspective in an objective manner. He urged students to keep abreast with the latest developments, new technology and new modes of communication and should inculcate a habit of reading to remain relevant and effective. He also called upon IIMC to strive for journalism courses in all Indian languages to cater to the communication needs of the citizens all across the country. The Minister stated this while inaugurating the First PG Diploma course in Urdu Journalism, 67th Diploma course in Development Journalism and the launch of IIMC Journal тАЬCommunicatorтАЭ, here today at Shastri Bhawan.
Speaking about the changing paradigm in communication, the Minister said that Social Media has broken the boundaries of time and space in communication.┬а It was a pre-requisite today for budding journalists to be social media savvy and to have a watchful eye about the public perception on issues of local and international importance.
Emphasizing on the training methodology, Shri Naidu said that in the current scenario, it was important to include Case studies and practical exposure as a part of curriculum for learning, practising and applying new concepts. He also stressed the need to impart an outlook to budding journalists, and communicators that is rooted in strong ethical values.
Complimenting IIMC on the new PG Diploma course in Urdu Journalism, Shri Naidu said that Urdu journalism was an important and integral part of media and communication landscape of our country which played an important role in Freedom Struggle movement. Elaborating further, the Minister emphasized on the critical role played by Maulana AzadтАЩs newspaper Al-Hilal which espoused the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity and strengthened the inclusive ideals of Indian nationalism during the Freedom Struggle movement. He also highlighted the important role played by newspapers like Naqeeb e-Hamdard, Pratap, Milap, Quami Awaaz, Zameendar, Hindustan in spreading the ideals of nationalism amongst the Indian youth.
Regarding the expanding Media & Entertainment sector, the Minister highlighted the vast requirement of skilled personnel in the sector in the country.┬а He referred the prominent role being played by the GovernmentтАЩs Skill India Initiative for upgrading skills under multiple disciplines. He added that the vision of this Government under the leadership of HonтАЩble Prime Minister was to bring Transformational changes in all sectors.┬а He complemented IIMC for playing a pivotal role in bridging the skill gap currently prevailing in this domain as a premier academic institution in the country.
On the re-launch of IIMC Journal тАЬCommunicatorтАЭ, the Minister said that the Journal will provide academicians, research scholars, and media practitioners a platform to publish their articles, case studies and research papers related to the field of mass communication encouraging a healthy exchange of innovative, unique and transformative ideas that can lay the foundations to the тАШcommunication paradigm of the futureтАЩ. The journal тАШCommunicatorтАЩ is one of the oldest Journals on mass communication, in publication since 1965. It started as Quarterly Journal in 1965 and later became a yearly publication.
While inaugurating the 67th Development Journalism course, the Minister said India is today regaining the lost glory of being the Knowledge hub of the world. The Development Journalism course provided a great opportunity for understanding and appreciating each otherтАЩs culture, and developing bonds of friendship. He added that journalist scholars from various Developing Countries were unofficial Ambassadors of India who shall provide a link of brotherhood among different cultures through their writings. ┬аThe 67th batch of Development Journalism course at IIMC has 23 scholars (12 females and 11 males) from 19 different countries.
