Mass Communication Education: Some issues and concerns

By Archana R Singh

WD

Bachelor of Journalism and Communication Studies, the admission letter read. I was enthralled! I am taking you back in time to the year 1987, when journalism education was not as popular as it is today. I had decided to transfer my university fee from Department of Chemistry to Department of Communication Studies after clearing a national level entrance exam. I was very happy with the outcome but I faced opposition at home because they had never imagined that `journalism’ could be learnt in a class room. I studied, I learnt and now I teach, having thrown in several years of practice as a media professional in between.

Despite the exuberant responses to journalism entrance examinations in present times, the general notion about journalism education hasn’t changed much. Not only the lay person but also media professionals assume that `Journalism’ does not need to be studied. In an argumentative mood they are prone to cite the examples of the Pulitzers and the Hearsts of the world to prove their point. Pulitzer himself comes to my rescue every time and puts an end to all arguments.

The world’s most celebrated journalist who gave us the popular formats of journalism viz. investigative, crusade, in depth and also the notorious ones, yellow and populist journalism, decided in 1912 to donate all his life’s earnings to start the world’s first journalism school. He invaded the world of newspapers without any journalism education but believed in his heart that his contribution to journalism would not be complete unless journalists were educated in journalism schools. So my critics of media education get their coveted Pulitzer Awards to talk about while I get Columbia School of Journalism from the same benefactor. The argument rests.

However, as an educator I have some concerns myself. One by one, I will let the concerns spill over from the recesses of my mind onto the pages and perhaps you will share some concerns more than others. I do believe that you might have some concerns of your own and perhaps this article could be a nudge in the direction of the dialogue or a debate or both.

What’s in a name? : The very first confusion I have is regarding our nomenclature. Media educators have not been able to agree upon one common name for our course that standardizes our academic discipline so that we have a common understanding of what to expect. The very basis of our discipline, stresses on `communis’ i.e. to make common. It is from this premise we derive our entire existence. Yet, we find that commonness missing. The variety is astounding, Journalism and Mass Communication, Journalism and Communication Studies, Mass Media, Mass Communication and so on. Some follow the pattern set by UGC, some cite the example of foreign universities, and most of us run our courses in an individualistic manner. If we want our subject to be understood as serious academic discipline, we need to come together and decide on one name. For instance, whether you study, sociology, philosophy or economics, you only get one degree, Master of Arts. There is a simple agreement, is it not? Why can we not have a consensus?
From `-ism’ to `-ology’

Very close on heels of this concern is another one that has had me confused for a long time now. I have not been able to get an explanation from any source that I have approached. I am a journalism teacher. My subject is print media journalism. Believe it or not, I teach an `-ism’! When one tries to understand the term, `-ism’ one gets to know that it is a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement. It could be a doctrine or a theory too. The suffix sits well with most practices or conditions, principles, usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence such as criticism, barbarism, despotism, realism, witticism, and intellectualism and so on. It suits ideological discussions on socialism, modernism and post modernism, regionalism, communism, capitalism, consumerism and so forth. Its only when one starts to study the above phenomenon, one is introduced to the suffix, `ology’ as in biology, sociology, theology, anthropology, zoology, geology, any science or branch of knowledge.

“-Isms” before it turned into a practice, was only meant to follow “-ize” the action word. “Originally, the suffix "-ism" was used to designate the overall result or state of a process designated by a verb ending in another suffix - "ize", as can be seen in such examples as plagiarize-plagiarism; antagonize-antagonism. In these cases, if it was the activity that was to be emphasized rather than the end result, the ending might be in "-ization", or some similar suffix, such as in the case of crystallize-crystallization; civilize-civilization; etc. In all these cases the person doing the action would have the suffix "-ist" attached, as in the case of apologize-apologist; hypnotize-hypnotist; etc.

The practice of using the suffix "-ism" was extended to cover any school of thought, especially when maintained by organized adherents having an inflexible rigid creed, or tenets, or doctrines. One either followed the whole credo or one did not belong (as in Judaism, Catholicism, etc.). When broad political schools of thought arose with adhering political parties it was most natural that the term "-ism" should apply, and we get such terms as liberalism, conservatism, communism, etc. in each of these cases, however, the adherents were contributors to the general theory and could modify essential parts of it. It is an entirely different matter when the "-ism" is narrowed to the doctrines or ideas expressed by an individual such as Marxism…” (The "-ism" in Marxism by Albert Weisbord, http://www.weisbord.org/ism.htm)

Yet, we teach and theorize an `-ism’ which is a school of thought and hence should be followed, practiced, adhered to, but teaching and learning? I doubt. We continue to teach Journalism and produced journalists! In common parlance and educational understanding, as mentioned earlier, the rightful suffix would be `-ology’ as in sociology, zoology, anthropology. The suffix `-ology’ means `specialty in’, or `art of’ or `study of’ a given filed of education and is derived from the Greek word, `logos’ which in most of its usages, is marked by two main distinctions - the first dealing with human reason, the second with universal intelligence.( http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/theogloss/logos-body.html) Having understood this gap in our nomenclature some of us introduced the term `Communicology’ thereby giving our subject the distinction of being an `-ology’. The term Communicology literally means, `the study of communication, including such fields as semiotics, audiology, and speech pathology.’ (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Communicologist). Interestingly some Mass Communication/Speech Communication/Human Communication schools are now naming themselves as Department of Communicology such as University of Hawai’i at M’anoa. The department believes that this move has given their course `a social scientific-based program of Communication or, more appropriately, Communicology.’ (http://manoa.hawaii.edu/communicology/homepage/department-history/) With this new phenomenon we get to call ourselves, `Communicologists’ and can steer away from teaching an `-ism’.

Art, Science or Technology? : The next area of interest which concerns the placement of our discipline in a particular field of study is the fact that all over India our programmes have been placed under the Faculties of Arts, Sciences and some are even under the Engineering Technology. Ours is an interdisciplinary course and hence this dilemma is understandable. Academicians have debated for a long time, the rationale for journalism and communication being a part of the Faculty of Arts, more so because the characteristics of our practices tend to tilt towards science. With our belief in precision, systematic and logical follow through of stories, our heritage of deriving our theories from physics, our natural bent of mind seeped in scientific enquiry, the subject could be well placed under Faculty of Science and Technology.

The modern era education in Mass Communication cannot keeps itself divorced from technology. Advancements in the area of Information Technology have taken our field further and further into the realm of technology. Beginning with the inventions of printing press, typewriter, telegraph, photography, radio waves, telephone, microphone, electric light, television, film, Shortwave radio, animation, Frequency Modulation, 3D, video gaming, microcomputer, Cable TV, DTH, CD Rom, analog to Digital technology…we have come a long way. All along the way we have been changing our methods to suit the technology of the time. For instance, our basic news writing structure follows the invention of the magnetic telegraph and the need to tell the story in inverted pyramid to save the newspapers from the need to buy the whole story and pay expensive cents for each character sent through the telegraph. The new method of writing distinctly different from the essay type was refined and worked for everyone, the writer, the reader, the sub editor and most of all business and technology.

Presently, with the computer taking the centre stage in the communication infrastructure and perhaps the Smartphone poised to take over very soon, our methods are changing too. Since our theory changes with the change in technology how can we justify belonging to the Faculty of Arts? Furthermore, our discipline requires `teaching’ and `training’ in equal measure. Each and every subject taught in our syllabus requires expertise in one or more piece of equipment. Digital cameras, video cameras, sound recording, sound editing, video editing, computer packages for designing newspaper pages, advertising copy, and magazine cover pages, and the list is endless.

With the kind of media environment our students have to face as soon as they are out of the college or university departments they need to be trained in the use of media related technology in order to fit in. However, training alone will not suffice. They have to learn to go deep into the characteristics of the medium to be able to design a message. They need to think deeply and learn to analyse in the context of theory, ethical knowledge, technique and technology. Our inter- disciplinary stature was never more pronounced than it is today but the scales are tilting towards technology.

Media as a business and business of media : With fast paced globalization, another dimension has been added to the aspect of media education which many of us would quaff at. In fact, our favourite slogan during our lectures in classes is mostly about the missionary role of the press and the social responsibility theory of media. We are the biggest critics of the business environment presented to us in the form of Trans National Media Organizations. The economic policies of liberalization and privatization with the leniency in the Foreign Direct Investments have changed the behavior of media industry in the market place. According to Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)- KPMG report 2012, the Indian media and entertainment (M&E) industry registered a growth of 12% over 2010 touching Rs 728 billion. The industry is expected to register a Compounded Annual Growth (CAGR) of 15% to touch Rs 1,457 billion by 2016. The report also highlights the kind of revenue received by the industry in terms of advertisements. Ad spend across all media accounted for Rs 300 billion in 2011, which contributes 41% to the overall M&E industry revenues. As against 2010 when the ad revenue was 17%, in 2011 it grew at 13%.

Certain key highlights of this report included:
Print Media- The print industry grew by 8.3% in 2011, which means from Rs 193 billion in 2010 to Rs 209 billion in 2011. The growth, mentions the report, was lower than expected in this sector.

Televisio n The television industry in India is estimated to be worth Rs 329 billion in 2011 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 17% over 2011-2016 to touch Rs 735 billion in 2016.

Radio- The overall industry growth in the radio industry was reported 15% in 2011 to touch Rs 11.5 billion in comparison to Rs 10 billon in 2010.

New Media: The online ad spend reached approximately 4% of total M&E industry ad revenue. The in ad revenues is expected 40% over previous year in this sector.
13 th annual edition June 2012 (forecast by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, PwC, p. 80) report projects India to be second in Asia-Pacific region in terms of the CAGR projected as 14.3% for 2012-2016 in this industry. The growth reported in the M&E industry in 2011 was $21,628 million in India, while that projected in 2012 is $24,778 million. By 2016, it is expected to reach $42,226 million as projected in the figures by PwC.

The data is mind boggling and it also brings home the fact that harping on `missionary role’ of the press is now clichéd and we need to broaden our own minds into accepting the fact that media is a business, it is an industry, it is a sector of economy! Being a business entity in the above depicted reality is not a problem but an opportunity for our students to get trained and taught well in order to pursue a fruitful career. This approach would perhaps club media studies with economics or management along with technology and computer applications with inputs of sociology, philosophy, social psychology, anthropology, languages, and many more.
Public vis-a-vis private education: The profits and pitfalls

Another new phase of journalism education is the training grounds provided by media houses. This is immediately related to the above mentioned business scenario. They have begun offering degrees and diplomas in the wake of the recent thrust on privatization of higher education. Earlier a number of media houses used to train some of their own journalists by selecting potential students with necessary skills and putting them through journalism training workshops and on-the-job training ‘intern’ programs. Presently, they take in graduates for formal education. While it proves beneficial for media houses who can be assured of regular supply of loyal workforce, it might not be a very good sign for the students themselves. In my opinion, once a student has undertaken a course from a particular media corporation, he may get employed with the same but his opportunities with other media houses is limited. His position as an unbiased observer of events is always suspect because of his inherent and natural loyalty to his school.

Since there is a large demand for young mass communication graduates, it is being met through the private players. The corporate are concerned with the profitability of their courses and hence the theoretical dimension is being neglected. Private schools have better infrastructure and they charge hefty fee, while the universities have solid foundations in theory and deeper understanding of nuances but lack the technical advancement so needed for a wholesome training and teaching combination. In this scenario, a wide variety of graduates vie for similar jobs in the marketplace, some are well trained with latest infrastructure and others are better equipped with depths of knowledge in historical, theoretical and conceptual areas. This situation is a matter of concern and at some point the media educators have to put their heads together to find a solution.

Technology: The unending race Another aspect that I have been worrying about for a long time now is the gap in the pace of growing technology and our ability to match up to it. Even if infrastructure is planned and acquired, the changes are so fast and radical that the equipment gets outdated in no time. The schools are forever trying to update and find it to be the biggest challenge.

Riding on the shoulders of the above problem is the perpetual inadequacy of the teachers. It may sound harsh but the truth is that we ourselves are fighting a losing battle. Every new technical innovation renders us technologically challenged. The situation seems to be such that teachers need the training as much as their students.

I have observed that well experienced media teachers are struggling to come to par with the new generation of students who are born in the computer era and have a faster grasp over the equipment. For instance, the problem of plagiarized answer sheets/project reports/dissertations/thesis which is common in most institutions has arisen because the teachers were unable to fathom the extent and enormity of the issue. The student outsmarted the teachers as they were savvier in the use of internet. Only when we were trained in use of software along with the purchase of the software by our institutions we were able to rightfully evaluate. The workload of the teachers has increased considerably and so has the nature of work.

Teaching and learning: The twain meet here Since we are on the subject of teaching and learning, I would like to move towards the sensitive area of classroom teaching. This is my personal opinion and not a generalization because I have myself felt the need to change with the changing times. The lecture method has long outlived its utility. Whatever we offer by way of lectures which we have prepared from books, journals and articles is mostly available on the internet and the student spends most of his time surfing the internet. Unless we can offer him something more, it is going to be very difficult to get him to our classes. I have devised an interactive method by which the topic is discussed in class and the students are given the position of opinion leaders. Once the discussion is complete, an assignment complete with theoretical backing and practical element is prepared. So far the method has worked and the students have participated whole heartedly but I do not know the longevity of this plan. Some teachers who are more tech savvy than others have already adopted the MOOCH or Moodle into their teaching methods. Moodle as described by the website “is an Open Source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students. To work, it needs to be installed on a web server somewhere, either on one of your own computers or one at a web hosting company.” I am trying to learn the ropes and will have to make the efforts to get it installed. However, I personally know media educators who are using it fruitfully. I am also aware that it is long way off for all of us to become so tech savvy to meet the demands of the newer generation of students.

In the end : My concerns seem to be painting a vey dismal picture of media education whether at a personal level or the organizational level. However, without losing our optimism for the subject so dear to us we have to decide to remain students forever and keep learning as we teach. It would serve us well to have more meaningful refresher courses, regular training programmes, untiring effort and an open mind. I have written the above piece in good faith and am ready for criticism but if it sparks some debate and even if opinions differ I would consider my purpose served. Struggle at my end is on and I have only voiced the concerns that are there in all our minds. It is time to put our minds together.