New Delhi: Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Information & Broadcasting, has said that the process of making Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC ) into a university was under way and once IIMC becomes a university, it would have a platform to start many innovative programs that would aim at providing wider perspective and inter-disciplinary approach to media education. Mr Naidu stated this here today (15 September 2016) at 49thconvocation ceremony of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. The university status would also provide IIMC with requisite resources to meet the growing demand of manpower in the media industry and academia, he added.
341 students were conferred PG Diplomas at this Convocation which included students from six Centres of IIMC. The students were conferred diplomas in many courses which included 144 students in English Journalism, 60 students in Hindi Journalism, 72 students in Advertising & Public Relations, 44 students in Radio & TV journalism and 8 students in Urdu Journalism.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Naidu urged the graduating students to stay away from sensationalism. He said that presenting the facts as they existed without any color and biases would enable then to become truthful communicators. While referring to the corrupt practice of paid news, the Minister urged them to not succumb to such unethical pressures and they should maintain high standards of journalism as true soldiers of fourth estate.
Emphasizing on increasing role of social & digital media in communication domain, Mr Naidu said that Social media has changed the way the communication flows. Millions of people across cultures and geographies are interacting in real time turning the world virtually into a ‘Global Village’. He further added that digital media had brought in immense opportunities and challenges because the information was shared in real time which generated instant feedback and response.
Speaking about the changing profiles of Media Consumers, the minister said that Indian languages had made a major impact on internet and mobile based technologies, which is a significant paradigm shift and has rightly received the attention of policy makers while thinking about Skill India in media industry. Adding further, the Minister said that media strategists and planners need to keep in mind the importance of regional media while planning campaigns to reach out to a disparate set of audiences. He also mentioned that Government’s Digital India initiative has propelled the New Media to grow by leaps and bounds in areas such as animation, VFX, gaming and digital advertising apart from social networking and internet.
IIMC has the distinction of being universally recognized as a Centre of excellence in the field of journalism, media and mass communication teaching, training and research. IIMC in the last six years has opened four branches in various parts of the country such as at Aizawl in Mizoram, Jammu in J&K, Amravati in Maharashtra and Kottayam in Kerala. In addition to these four branches, IIMC has branches in New Delhi and Dhenkanal (Odisha). Catering to online students, IIMC has decided to start online courses and a training programme on community radio in addition to many other short term courses.
