The journalism profession has long held the attention and admiration of youngsters in India. Popular media’s depiction of journalists as slick, suave, and brave reporters, as evidenced in books like The Adventures of Tintin and Nancy Drew had caught the fancy of different generations, including the Baby Boomers, Gen X and Millennials.
The ‘90s boom of 24/7 news channels and war reporting in India further accentuated the interest in the adrenaline rush of an adventurous, glamorous, and cause driven life of a journalist. This perhaps led to the mushrooming of journalism schools across India offering journalism programmes at undergraduate and post-graduate levels.
However, the expanding popularity of journalism career seems to have taken a nosedive, as admissions to journalism schools in the popular educational hub Bangalore, plummeted in the early part of this decade. The uncertain numbers could have even led to the closure of popular journalism schools in Bangalore like the IIJNM and COMMITS.
Several universities in Karnataka are now having numbers in the single digits or have closed down the postgraduate journalism department. Although the sudden drop in journalism aspirants is bewildering, it is important to analyse the possible causes and interventions to be made to sustain the calling of journalism schools.
An array of causes
Most sudden shifts are likely to have an epicentre, but this change in the attitude towards the journalism career and programme has multiple attributing factors. To begin with, journalism is not the most alluring profession anymore. In the world of glamorous influencers, easy money, independence and free time, Gen Zs and subsequent generations are caught in the mass appeal of social media.
Starting with the 80s generation, the exploitative capitalist ideals masked as righteous-mantra-of-hard-work-leads-to-slow-and-steady-income has lost its significance. The present generation looks for quick and easy money. When journalists themselves lament that journalism pays less and involves burning the midnight oil, not many are interested.
Further, the status of journalism in India is in dire straits. The concentrated ownership of newspaper and television channels has challenged the freedom of press leading to advocacy journalism, with little or no room for objectivity and fairness in news. In such a scenario, it is a foregone conclusion that journalistic organisations must tread with caution to report critically on the government and uphold its role as the fourth estate of democracy.
According to the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (2024), India’s press freedom was ranked 159th out of 180. As many as 28 journalists have been killed in India in the last decade and another 21 arrested as against just three in the previous decade. Journalism has become synonymous with high risk, low-paying jobs with unpleasant working conditions in terms of working days and weekly-offs.
This combination is not enticing for the younger generations and when the cause of reporting the truth is challenged in the country due to the political climate and capitalistic corporate ecosystem, there is nothing much left to desire for. Hence, the idea of martyrdom for the cause of journalism may seem like sheer lunacy for the present younger generation.
In addition to the uncertainty in the journalism field and stringent political climate, the curriculum of journalism programme in Indian universities and colleges does not paint a positive picture. Unfortunately, the Indian educational system’s assessments are still strongly tied to examinations.
In India, most journalism courses are taught as theory, with tests and examinations serving as the yardstick to assess the ‘skills’ and ‘critical thinking’ of the students. In reality, this system of education only promotes rote learning and results in dissipation of creativity and passion for the field.
The introduction of NEP 2020 has resulted in further dilution of the curriculum in many universities. Even as some universities that combine theory with practicals in the teaching of journalism, not every university promotes or even allows creative freedom for course instructors to design their courses effectively.
The independence is limited by a structure set keeping examinations as the fulcrum. When the world is moving towards data and interactive journalism, or block chain journalism driven by revolutionary changes in technology, the syllabus still largely reflects concepts taught 20 years ago.
But it would be unfair to blame only journalism schools as they are just keeping pace with media houses in India, who are yet to catch up with the latest world trends in covering and publishing news. It is ironical that the news media, which is privy to latest information on technology trends, is shy about adopting them in newsrooms.
It is shocking to note that even after so many years of existence, Indian journalistic organisations have not changed the working conditions of their employees. But for a few corporatised journalistic organisations, journalism still remains one of the most demanding and unrewarding jobs financially and in terms of work-life balance.
Salvaging the situation
There is a dire need to address this situation with utmost urgency, and it has to begin with the journalism industry. The profession needs a revamp in both structure and functioning to keep up with the latest trends in technology to address the present needs of society, which is increasingly digitalised.
While fair pay is something that a journalist can aspire for, one must also accept the fact that journalism of ethics is demanding and difficult to make it profiteering in its present form. All the same, it is imperative that media owners must strive hard to improve the working condition of journalists, without compromising too much on ethical journalism, which can lead to attracting young talent.
Today we see independent journalism flourishing in online media, doing a far more commendable job than the legacy media. At the same time, we also see independent social media influencers acting as ‘journalists’ sensationalising and, at times, spreading fake news. Journalism schools, perhaps, have a role to prepare students to take up independent journalism which is high on ethics and objectivity.
Educational institutions should also have a sense of moral obligation in offering programmes like journalism to ensure that the profession does not die in academia. In the face of adversity, a true survivor can either reinvent or perish. Shutting down schools seems like an extreme measure.
Instead, it would be advisable to offer journalism courses in conjunction with or as part of communication or media studies programme. This way, we get to retain journalism course for interested students, while still ensuring that students get trained in other skills such as advertising, public relations, social media management, content creator, etc. which are in great demand today.
Journalism courses should be revamped to adhere to international standards and taught as a combination of theory and practical, with adequate scope for projects and internships embedded in the curriculum. As long as there is pursuit for truth and fairness in society, journalism will find a way to survive in some form or the other, whether it is close to the present form or drastically different.
(Indumathi Soma Shekar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies, CHRIST University, Bangalore. Melwyn S Pinto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication, St Aloysius (Deemed to be) University, Mangalore)
Published – February 11, 2025 07:08 pm IST