Bania shops of Journalism

by Manish Anand

Boom in Television News Channels has fuelled unprecedented mushrooming of media institutes in Delhi apart from other cities. All are on the bandwagon to sell the great journalism dreams.

You can be Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and others, the media business tells hoards of students. It’s a different matter that Barkha and Sardesai had different path of career growth which can in no way give credence to these institutes methodology.

At the end of the day, these institutes are more of a bania shop selling journalism certificates with no tangible trainings imparted to their pupils. Cost for these certificates is also at its high. Don't be surprised if you were told that minimum cost for a diploma is Rs 30,000 and it runs as high as Rs 2 lakh. But cost is no deterrence as students make beeline to get admissions in such institutions.

But the silver lining is that many of working journalists or those who are past their prime have got something to make easy money by. Their pockets have deepened no doubt. And they too say that there are many idiots with lots of money then why not get a share from them. Efforts are also least as you just need to talk and journalists are never at a loss of words when it comes to chatting. There are so many stories to be told; own experiences to be precise. And students will think oh how knowledgeable the faculty is. Poor folks indded!

The boom is unjustified and unreasonable because journalism industry is too small and highly competitive apart from being uncertain. Flip side is that these institutes tell their customers that opportunities are tremendous and exciting. “Interviewing a Prime Minister or taking a pot shot at the government, bureaucracy, polity is something that few professions can enjoy, an often repeated encouraging remark that the shopkeepers dish out.

At the bottom of the barrel lies many of these ambitious journalism students who end up working for content writing, press release writing and at worst working for free as interns at media organisations for months. Prime time wasted never comes back is not properly understood as yet and most importantly in backward regions of India. There could be other exciting options as well, both professionally and monetarily rewarding.

But, meanwhile, young men and women are not really bothered paying a hefty sum for a two-hour daily class to get a journalism certificate. It will bust that is for certain, but will leave many broken hearted.