As regional language media continues to register a small but steady growth in circulation, plans are afoot at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), a premier media training institute, to offer journalism courses in regional languages.
IIMC’s branch in Dhenkanal (Odisha) is the only campus where training is imparted in Oriya, apart from English.
To begin with, the institute is considering offering journalism courses in Malayalam and Marathi at its campuses in Kottayam (Kerala) and Amravati (Maharashtra).
“The future lies in regional languages, and we are considering the possibilities of offering courses in regional languages,” KG Suresh, who recently took over as the director general of the IIMC in Delhi, told Hindustan Times.
Suresh’s assertion that regional language media is not on the wane, is supported by data released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), a non-profit body for measuring and auditing newspaper and magazine circulation in the country.
According to ACB data released in May, the print circulation of its member publications grew 5.04% between 2008 and 2015. While English and Hindi publications grew by 17.6% and 37.8 %, Bengali, Malayalam and Marathi publications grew between 5 to 9% between June and December 2015.
At the Dhenkanal centre, applications for the PG diploma course have slowly begun to pick up pace. Prof. Mrinal Chatterjee, centre head at IIMC Dhenkanal, told HT that for the last three years, the institute has the number of applications for the course in Oriya journalism and job offers go up. “Last year, 17 out of the batch of 20 received job applications,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}At the Dhenkanal centre, applications for the PG diploma course have slowly begun to pick up pace. Prof. Mrinal Chatterjee, centre head at IIMC Dhenkanal, told HT that for the last three years, the institute has the number of applications for the course in Oriya journalism and job offers go up. “Last year, 17 out of the batch of 20 received job applications,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Advocating journalism training in more Indian languages, Prof. Chatterjee, who worked for several Oriya publications said: “In Orissa, the course helped improve the general conditions and standards of journalism. It is important to have such courses in other languages as well.”
The English journalism course is available at the institute’s Delhi, Dhenkanal, Aizawl, Amravati, Jammu and Kottayam campuses. IIMC, which recently procured land for setting up its centre in Jammu, has plans to offer a course in Hindi journalism here as well; the course is currently offered only in Delhi. There is also a short-term course in Urdu journalism offered only at the Delhi centre.