JOURNALISM SYLLABUS
I SEMESTER: REPORTING FOR PRINT
Theory: 4 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit I: Introduction to Communication 5 hours
Definition, Process , Purpose, Principles Kinds: Intra personal, Interpersonal, Group, Organizational, Mass, Mass-line, Interactive Models of Communication: Linear and Non-linear, Western and Indian
Unit II: Introduction to Print Medium 10 hours
A brief history of the Press in India Major newspaper and magazine organizations: An analysis of major publications
Unit III: Introduction to news writing 15 hours
News: Definition, types, news value, techniques of newsgathering, interviewing skills, attribution, problem of planted stories Sources of News: Traditional Sources, Media Sources, Cross Media Sources including Radio, TV and internet, ethical issues regarding sources, Gate-keeping and validation of news sources. Structure of a news report: Types of leads: inverted pyramid style, hour glass style and nut graph Covering beats, press conferences, speech reports seminars, press releases Reporting for a news agency, specialized reporting like investigative journalism, etc.
Unit IV: Introduction to feature writing 10 hours
Definition, structure, characteristics, types Process: Ideas and research, tools and techniques Kinds of features: Profiles; middles, columns, human interest stories, travel writing, opinion pieces and editorials; book reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, narrative writing Magazine reporting: Current trends, style and future
Unit V: Challenges and Trends 10 hours
Responsibilities of a reporter and challenges: Professionalism, constraints on objectivity, influence of PR and spin doctors, intra-organizational controls; owner and editor’s relationship. Trends in journalism: Paid news, fake news, post-truth, AI in journalism etc
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours Practical component: Photo-essay
Reading List:
1. Mass Communication: A Critical analysis, Keval J Kumar 2. Professional Journalism, M V Kamat 3. Theory and Practice of Journalism, B N Ahuja 4. Professional Journalist, John Hohenberg 5. Understanding Media, Marshall McLuhan 6. Journalism in India,Nadig Krishnamurthy, Mysore University Press
II SEMESTER: EDITING AND DESIGN
Theory: 4 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit I: Introduction to editing 5 hours
Newsroom hierarchy and organization: Roles and responsibilities of the sub-editor, chief sub-editor, news-editor and editor Editing: Need and purpose
Unit II: The editing process: Grammar 15 hours
Sentences and their structure, Subject verb agreement; agreement of nouns and pronouns, Tense in news writing, Negative and double negative expressions, Adjectives, modifiers, split infinitive, Gerunds and verbs, Punctuation, Paraphrasing, Transition devices in news writing, Editing and proof reading symbols
Unit III: The editing process: Content 15 hours
Attributions and identification of news sources, Tight writing, rewriting, checking facts, condensing stories, slanting and localising news, handling wire and correspondents copy Editing/ revising press releases and handouts Editing opinion pieces/ columns and readers’ letters Style sheets and house styles Magazine editing
Unit IV: Headlines and captions 5 hours
Headlines: Kinds, functions Writing headlines and sub-heads Writing captions
Unit V: Fundamentals of newspaper design 10 hours
Typography: types and uses of fonts, white spaces, character count Layout: Importance, types; elements, contemporary styles vs traditional styles Technicalities: Paper sizes, grids, margins, columns, left and right flush, centering, justification, rulers, scaling, page numbering, texture, colour Selection and use of photographs: Dos and don’ts Introduction to DTP software: Adobe Indesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours Lab journal
Reading List:
1. Acques Barzum 2002. Simple & Direct, London Harpar And Row 2. John Ostnous 2004 Better Paragraphs, London Harper And Row 3. Basket, Scissors And Brooks (Eds), 2002.Book Of Art Editing, London,Harper And Row. 4. Joseph 2002.Outlines Of Editing, New Delhi. Amol Publication. 5. M V Desai & Sevanti Nainan 1996. Beyond Those Headlines, 6. Jeorge 1998.TJS, Editing, A Hand Book For Journalist, New Delhi IIMC. 7. Quinn 1999. Digital Sub Editing & Design, New Delhi, Sage Publication. 8. Elements of Newspaper Design: Steven E. Ames 9. Designing for Newspapers and Magazines: Chris Frost 10. Read All About It: Write and design your own newspaper!: Alice Bowsher 11. The Best of News Design, 36th edition: Society for News Design 12. Author Adobe, Adobe Photoshop: Techmedia 13. Adobe InDesign CC Classroom in a Book: Kordes Anton Kelly and Cruise John 14. Adobe Illustrator CC Classroom in a Book: Wood Brian
III SEMESTER: BROADCAST JOURNALISM
Theory: 4 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit 1: Radio in India 5 hours A brief history of radio in India Types of programmes on radio Impact of radio on society
Unit 2: Radio Production 10 hours
Principles of writing for radio Script-writing basics: news, drama, documentary Basics of sound Microphone, types
Unit 3: Television in India 5 hours
Development of television in India Types of programmes on television and scheduling Impact of television on society
Unit 4: Introduction to television production 15 hours
Principles of writing for television Recent concepts: Tyranny of distance, CNN effect, Al Jazeera effect, Media Circus, Missing white woman syndrome, Feiler Faster Thesis, Trial by Media Basics of light, types of lighting Lighting equipment Camera: Types, working Use of computer-generated graphics
Unit 5: Production Process 10 hours
Pre-production: ideation, research and planning, location scouting Production: Shot composition, shot breakdown: voiceovers, narration, sound effects; floor manager, set design Post-production: Linear and non-linear editing, principles of editing
Unit 6: Laws related to electronic media 5 hours
Prasara Bharati Act Cable Network Act
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
News Capsule
Reading List:
1. Herbert Zettle, Handbook of Television Production. 2. Frederich Shook, Television Field Production and Reporting. 3. Rudy Bretz, Techniques of TV Production, Focal Press 4. Gerald Millerson, Techniques of Video Production. 5. Effective TV Productions by Gerald Millerson, Focal Press. 6. Gerald Millerson, Video Camera Techniques. 7. David Lusted and Christine Geraghty, The Television Studies Book. 8. Jonathan Bignell, An Introduction to Television Studies, Routledge 2007.
IV SEMESTER: NEW MEDIA
Theory: 4 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit I: Introduction to new media 10 hours
Brief history and evolution of the internet Internet as a medium of communication New media terminologies: websites and portals; cyber space, cyber culture, cyber journalism, digital divide, blogs, blogosphere, vlog, webisodes, webinars, podcasts, search engines and search engine optimization, user-generated content, content curation, hits, page views, users, unique users, sessions, contextual advertising
Unit II: Characteristics of online journalism 15 hours
Immediacy, interactivity and universality Language and style of online journalism News determinants in cyberspace Dos and don'ts of internet reporting Ethical issues in online journalism: obscenity and privacy, copyright, cyber laws, IT Act A look at online sites of leading media organizations
Unit III: Conceptualizing websites 10 hours
Components of a website Different types of websites Web layout: Design, layout, colour, graphics, visual information Writing for online medium: Interactivity of form and content in new media, Linear writing versus interactive writing, grammar of interactivity, multimedia storytelling, hypertext Writing copies that can be fetched by Search Engines; keyword writing How to analyze traffic of a site? Exposure to Google Analytics
Unit IV: Mobile journalism and social networking 15 hours
Mobile journalism: Using the mobile for stories; apps and tools for reporting; mobile-based story telling ideas and projects Smartphone photography Facebook and social media: The newsfeed of tomorrow? Twitter as a means of disseminating news. Creating handles and using Twitter to generate traffic to stories News writing for apps, robotic news and rewriting.
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
A simple website and blog
Reading List:
1. Craig, Richard.: Online journalism: reporting, writing and editing for new media. Belmont: Thomson/Wadsworth. 2. Nick, Heap Ray & Thomas Geoff: Information technology & society. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 3. Polonsky, Brett.: Official Microsoft Frontpage 2000 book. Washington: Microsoft Press 4. Snellned, Temple Bob & Clork T.Michoel: Internet and web basics all in one. Indianapolis: Pearson Educations. 5. Srivastava, Chetan.: Fundamentals of information technology. New Delhi: Kalyani Publishers 6. Satyanarayana, R., Information Technology and its facets, Delhi, Manak 2005. 7. Sunder, R., Computers Today Ed.2, John Wiley, 2000. 8. Benedikt, M., Cyberspace: First steps, ed. Cambridge, MA. MIT Press. 1991. 9. Chapman and Chapman, Digital Multi media, Wiley Publication.
SEMESTER V: CORE: GEOPOLITICAL ISSUES
Theory: 3 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit 1: Political Forms 10 hours
Introduction to Geopolitics: real politics vs. ideologies, political realism, power politics, soft power, hard power, techniques of power politics Forms of Government: Anarchy, Aristocracy, Authoritarianism, Balkanization, Colony, Communist state, Corporatocracy, Democracies, Despotism, Dictatorship, Military dictatorship, Feudalism, Monarchies, Empire, Oligarchy, Puppet states, Republics, Single-party state, Socialism, Theocracy, Totalitarianism, Tribe
Unit 2: Contemporary Global Issues 10 hours
Globalization: History, Contemporary globalization, Measuring globalization, Effects, Liberalization and Privatization, Trade Agreements Human Rights and Justice: History, International Bodies, Human Rights Law, Regional Human Rights, Critique of Rights
Unit 3 : International Real Politics 10 hours
An overview of contemporary issues in International Politics. South Asian Politics, with emphasis on issues in SAARC countries from an international perspective. West Asian politics Politics in Africa Politics in the EU Politics in the US WTO/GATT and their implications for world trade
Unit 4 Media and Political Communication 10 hours
Political Communication Theories: Agenda Setting: Priming, Framing; The effect of media in the formation and change of political attitudes The diverse uses of internet and mobile phones in politics, online political campaigns
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours Group Discussion
Reading List:
1. Political Ideologies, an Introduction by Andrew Heywood 2. Comparing Political Systems, Power and Policy in Three Worlds by Gary Bertsch, Robert Clark, David Wood 3. Politics by Andrew Heywood 4. Introduction to Political Science by Carlton Rodee, Totton Anderson, Carl Christol 5. Three Faces of Fascism by Ernst Nolte 6. Politics Among Nations, The struggle for power and peace by Hans J Morgenthau 7. Cases in Comparative Politics by Patrick O’Neil, Karl Fields, Don Share 8. The Geopolitics of Globalization, The consequences for development by Baldev Raj Nayar 9. International Relations, Between two World Wars 1919 – 1939 by E H Carr 10. The Anarchical Society, A study of order in world politics by Hendly Bull
SEMESTER V: ELECTIVE I: ADVERTISING & PR
Theory: 3 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit 1: Introduction to Advertising 10 hours
Advertising as a form of promotion: Role, functions and effects Social, ethical and regulatory aspects of advertising. · Evolution of advertising in India and the world.
Unit 2: Types and Advertising Agencies 10 hours
Target audience, geographic area, media and purpose. Formats for production: Print Advertising, Television Commercials, Radio commercials, outdoor advertising, institutional and promotional advertising, web ads, and alternative media options, above and below the line advertising. Ad agencies: Structure, types, ways by which agencies make money.
Unit 3: Creating an advertisement 10 hours
Elements of advertisement: Copy/script, headline, sub-headline, text, slogan, logo, trade mark. Visualization, Layout, Illustration, Colour
Unit 4: Public Relations 5 hours
PR and its relevance in modern societies Principles of public relations Public opinion, propaganda, advertising and publicity Qualifications and responsibilities of a PRO Code of conduct for PR professionals.
Unit 5: Types and tools of PR 5 hours
Types of PR Publics: Internal and External Tools of PR: House journals; house advertisements; media, social media; press releases and press conferences; media tours, public service announcements/ads; Special events: open house, exhibitions, demos.
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
Ad Campaign: Print / TV/ Radio
Reading List:
1. David Ogilvy (Edt) 2000. Ogilvy on advertising, London Prion Books Ltd. 2. Meena Pondey, (Edt) 1989. Foundation of Advertising Theory and Practice, Bombay Himalaya Publishing house. 3. William F Arens (Edt) 2000 Contemporary Advertisement. USA Times Mirror Education Group. 4. William Wells (Edt) 2001. Advertising, Principles and Practice, London Prion Books Ltd 5. Marla R Staffer (Edt) 2001. Advertising Promotion and New Media, Times Mirror Co, USA. 6. S A Choonawala, K C Sethia (Eds) 2005. Foundations of Advertising theory & Pratice, Bangalore Himalaya Publishing. 7. George E. Belch 2004 Advertising and Promotion an Integrating Marketing Communication Perspective, New Delhi, Tata McGraw Hills. 8. Otis Baskin & Craig Aronoff (Eds). 2000. Public Relation., The Profession & The Practice, U.S.A. Times Mirror Co. 9. Allen H Centre (Edt). 2003. Public Relations Practices, New Delhi Prentice Hall Inc of India. 10. Rene A Henry (Edt) 2001. Marketing Public Relations New Delhi, Oxford University Press.
SEMESTER V: ELECTIVE II: MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Theory: 3 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit 1: Introduction 10 hours
What is management? Theories of management Management skills and functions
Unit 2: News media as a business enterprise 5 hours
Types of ownerships Defining the market Market structure Dual product market
Unit 3: Audience research 5 hours
Understanding the audience: Demographics, psychographics, geo demographics Revenue-readership measurement systems, ABC, NRS, INS, RNI Viewership measurement systems-TRP, TAM, INTAY and other retting systems
Unit 4: Media entrepreneurship 10 hours
The elevator pitch Writing a business plan; the lean canvas Starting a newspaper/magazine: From registration to the market A look at the growth of some media houses
Unit 5: Marketing 10 hours
The 4 P’s of marketing Marketing strategies Types of promotion
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
Writing a business plan
Reading List:
1. The Indian media Business: Vanita Kohli 2. Media Organization Management: James Redmind and Robert 3. Total quality Management: C Halzer 4. Fundamental marketing: W.J. Stantton & Charles Futrell
SEMESTER VI: MEDIA AND SOCIETY
Theory: 3 hours /week: Marks: 70 marks
Practical: 2 hours/week: CIA:30 marks
Practical: 50
To develop an understanding of development paradigms and effectively apply the principles learnt in reporting on important developement issues in the country To gain insight on various media texts and identify, critcially anlayse and write about issues of identity and representation. To apply existing communication theories to study all media phenomena. To research and analyse media’s relationship with culture. To develop a perspective on the impact of globalisation of media and the growing challenges of the internet.
Unit 1- Theories of Mass media effects and uses. (10)
Hypodermic Needle; Two Step Flow Theory; Limited -Effects; Cultivation
Theory; Social Learning Theory; McLuhan’s Media Determinism; Spiral of Silence; Media Hegemony; Agenda Setting; Uses and Gratification Approach.
Unit 2- Media and Development (10)
Understanding development .Origin of the concept of Development, Approaches to Development- Modernisation, alternative paradigm, liberation theory. Indicators of Development – HDI, HHI, MDG, SDG-Developement reporting- how to research and write a story.
Unit 3-Media and Culture (10)
Understanding Culture, Mass Culture, Popular Culture, and
Folk Culture, Sub culture, popular texts, and politics of popular
Culture, celebrity industry, fandom, acquisition and transformation of
Popular culture. - Media analysis techniques- semiotics and psychoanalysis.
Unit 4- Media and Network society (10)
Birth of ICT, rise of network society. Important concepts- Fake news, post –truth, echo chamber, Digital divide, digital inequality.
Unit 5- Media and representation (10)
Media representation of marginalised groups- women, youth and other minorities. Stereotyping
Essential Reading:
1.AS Media Studies: An Essential Introduction Edited by Philip Rayner, Peter Wall and Stephen Kruger, Routledge (Covers Unit I)
2.Media Analysis techniques; Arthur Asa Burger; ( Unit III and IV)
3.Introduction to Communication Studies; John Fiske, 1982, Routledge (Covers Unit II, Ideology and Meanings and Unit III Signs and codes )
4.Mass Communication Theory, London, Sage Dennis McQuail, 2000, (fourth Edition) (Covers Unit I, Unit III)
5.Mass Communication Theory; Baran and Davis, (covers unit I)
6.Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. London: Pearson Longman. 2009 (Unit III)
7.Media Cultures by Nick Stevenson, 2002, Second Edition, SAGE James Clifford, Tony Benett, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, John Storey (Unit III)
8.The Rise of Network Society; Manuel Castells, 2000, second edition, Wiley- Blackwell,UK (Unit IV)
9.Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment, Srinivas R. Melkote & H. Leslie Steeves, 2001,Sage Publications
PRACTICAL COMPONENT- PSA (35 marks)
SEMESTER VI: ELECTIVE I: TECHNICAL WRITING
Theory: 3 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit 1: Technical Writing Concepts 10 hours
What is Technical Writing? Role of a Technical Writer Principles of Technical Writing Types of Documentation: Technical, Marketing, Sales, Instructional. Common terminology and concepts
Unit 2: Technical Writing Process 10 hours
Analyzing Your Audience Gathering Documentation Requirements Collecting Information – interviewing Engineering Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), Quality Assurance Engineers, Product Managers, and so on Developing Content Organizing and Presenting information - text, tables, images, videos Technical and Editorial Reviews Publishing Content
Unit 3: Documentation Development Process 10 hours
Creating a Documentation Plan Understanding Product Features Document and Product Marketing Document Deciding Documentation Deliverables – (User Manuals, How To Guides, System Administration Guides, Online Help System, Wiki pages, SharePoint site) Project Management
Unit 4: Technical Writing Skills 5 hours
How to write simple and concise content How to write procedures and instructions Writing for a global audience Following International Style Guides and Documentation Standards
Unit 5: Technical Writing Tools 5 hours
Microsoft Word – Text Editor, Capturing and editing images, MS PowerPoint – Creating Presentations, RoboHelp – Creating Online Help etc PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
Creating a User Manual/How to guide
Reading List:
1. Technical Writing Process And Product, Sharon J Gerson 2. Technical Communication: Meenakshi Raman 3. Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach, Paul V Anderson 4. Hand Book of Technical Writing: Geralad J Alred, Charles T Brusaw, Walter E Oliu 5. Survivor's Guide To Technical Writing: David Ingre 6. Writing For The Information Age: Bruce Ross-Larson 7. Technical Writer’s Handbook: Writing With Style and Clarity: Matt Young
SEMESTER VI: ELECTIVE II: MASS MEDIA RESEARCH
Theory: 3 Hours/week Marks: 70 Practical: 2 Hours/week CIA : 30 Practical: 50
Unit I: Introduction to Research 15 hours
Basic Concepts, Meaning Definition & types of research Research Procedure Scientific research: Elements (concepts, constructs, variables, scales and measurement) Methods of Conducting Scientific research Social Science Research.
Unit II: Sampling 3 hours
Definition & types of sampling Advantage and Disadvantage of Sampling in Media Research Selection of the problems Meaning and characteristics of problems
Unit III: Hypothesis 2 hours
Meaning Types, Testing Need for formulating Hypotheses
Unit IV: Research approaches or design 10 hours
Experimental Method Field study Case Study Observational Content analysis Historical Method Survey Method Data Collection Techniques: Questionnaire, interview.
Unit V: Research in Media 10 hours
Research in Print Media, Types of research in Print Media Research in Electronic Media: Rating and Non Rating Research Writing a research report Ethics in research
PRACTICAL COMPONENT 26 hours
Dissertation
Reading List:
1. Berger J. 2000 Media and Communication Research Methods: An Introduction To Qualitative And Quantitative Approaches, California Sage Publication. 2. California Harper and Rachal Marcus. 2003. Research for Development, New Delhi Visitor Publication. 3. Roger D. Wimmer And Joseph R. Dominick. 2000. Mass Media Research: An Introduction, Singapore Wadsworth Publishing. 4. Rummuel R.L, 1970. Applied Factor Analysis, North western University Press, 5. Evanston Il Sarlow, C. 1994. Basic Research Methods, New Delhi, Mc Graw- Hill 6. Ralph O, Natiger And D David M, White, 1999. Introduction to Mass Communication Research, Louisiana, Louisiana State University Press. 7. Ram Ahuja. Research Methodology