Career in Media
There is perhaps, no other business or industry in the world that so greatly influences our daily lives
. Reach, accessibility, impact and versatility have made media, emerge as a powerful instrument of social, economic and political change throughout the world. There is hardly any field which is not touched or covered by the media. It has its presence and impact in every sphere. Our thoughts, our actions are not only influenced but also at times even directed by this gigantic superpower called media. India has bestowed mass media with the status of "Fourth Pillar of Democracy". Disseminating unbiased and objective information and generating public opinion is the prime responsibility of this industry.
The Indian Entertainment & Media industry is very vivid and one of the most versatile. It can be further categorised as follows:
Filmed Entertainment
Television
Music
Radio
Print (Primarily Newspapers, Magazines etc)
New Media (Internet & Mobile)
The revolution in the information technology has resulted in the emergence of cable wires, networks and most importantly the "Internet", which has transformed the face of the media industry. The ongoing change in technology, products and distribution channels has created significant opportunities in the industry for growth and development. The industry is booming with umpteen options in broadcasting, television, radio, online media (including blogs, forums, etc) and print- newspapers, magazines, books, journals, etc. In today's era of communication and technology, a career in this field is definitely challenging and highly rewarding as well.
Scope and Future
In our country, media scene has totally changed particularly in the past two decades post the globalization. As of now, there are nearly 80000 newspapers and periodicals, nearly 250 radio stations, 400 transmitters, 500 TV channels, about 300 private FM radio channels, close to 1000 films made every year. Television today has penetrated 135 million households and cable connections have reached to 85 million households. Mobile TV where picture can be relayed to mobile phones is in the early stage of development and has got a tremendous future. These cover almost the whole country in terms of readership, viewership and reach'. This journey of all-round growth of media is growing from strength to strength, spearheaded by the largest film industry in the world The Bollywood. Theentire Industry is expected to grow at a rate of 13 per cent over the next five years and cross 1 trillion rupee mark by 2014.
The entire humanity is today in the communication' mode. New systems of communication are easy to operate. They are user-friendly. But these systems need huge human resources for management, content creation, presentation and distribution. The human resource has to be intelligent, well informed, trained and professional. From journalism to animation, printing to network engineering, creative artists and writers to media managers large number of media professionals are required in the near future. Besides working for the ever-growing media organizations, there is a tremendous scope for self-employment and entrepreneurship. One word of caution is necessary at this stage. Looking at the responsibility of the Media and its working, personal qualities of prospective entrants in Media are much more important than specific academic and professional degrees.
Skills required
Anyone desirous of entry in the media must be very hard-working, intelligent, dedicated and self-motivated, self-confident, well-versed with the working of the industry and, above all, must possess excellent communication skills. Notwithstanding one's score in the academics i.e. examinations, only those will be able to sustain in the field who can project themselves effectively right from group discussion to interview to actual working on the desk and/in the field. They must be able to think clearly, write, talk or perform clearly for print/electronic/internet/web media with an eye on their respective audience their requirements and level of understanding.
Media requires competent and result-oriented professionals. Here comes the important role of universities, colleges, professional institutions and bodies imparting education and training in diverse fields under the overall umbrella of Media.
Formal Education
Media education covers a wide spectrum of courses. Before stepping into the industry, one has to be very clear and specific about the choice of career. Different aspects of media require specialized training. For instance, editing, animation, multimedia requires specific technical training. Likewise journalism, public relations, advertising requires different level of aptitude and academic training, similarly with more creative options such as acting, radio jockeying, directing are very different from other segments of media. Earlier many professionals working for this industry opted for this career accidently and even succeeded because of their inbuilt talent and learning skills, but today there are courses for each and every segment of this industry. The courses are at all level right from a graduation degree course to MBA. Educational options are immense, which is why today many youngsters opt for such career courses rather than mundane commerce, science, engineering or medical. Options of diploma level and short term courses are also widely available. These courses provide brief outline of media industry- How the different forms of media work, organization structure, work pattern, etc. The curriculum of the courses, specific for a particular stream, is designed in such a manner that it covers each and every aspect of the particular discipline.
Numerous institutions all over India impart quality education in various streams of media. Of the most renowned are Mudra Institute of Communications in Ahmedabad, The Indian Institute of Mass Communication- New Delhi, The Asian College of Journalism Chennai, St. Xavier Institute of Communications (XIC) - Mumbai, The Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media (IIJNM) - Bangalore, Times School of Journalism - New Delhi, There are also distance learning universities such as Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), which offers courses in media and communications. For those interested in
acting, directing, producing movies and modeling, Film and Television Institute of India Pune is a good option. It is an old and renowned institute and has produced well-known actors working in the film and television industry today.
Remuneration
Remuneration in media depends on the specific field chosen by the individual and policies of organizations. Generally, one can expect a salary around Rs. 10, 000 Rs. 15, 000 per month (or even higher) at the beginning stage. The salary and perks increase with experience.
Career in Media
By: Richa Seth
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