Tamil Nadu   

`Media education is essential for media professionals'

Keval J. Kumar

He is the man who brought the essence of the various communication forms in India to journalism students in the form of a textbook, considered one of the first of its kind in the early eighties.

Till then, students read about journalism in the US and UK, in books written by foreign authors, for there were not many Indian authors who wrote for students.

Now the market has books galore authored by Indian journalists and media professionals.

Yet it is `Mass Communication in India' by Keval J. Kumar that remains the authority in many colleges.

He speaks to Amutha Kannan on the changes the media has undergone from the time the first edition of his book was released.

When he went to teach journalism (which was an optional subject) at the Bombay University in 1981, he found to his dismay that there were not many textbooks by Indian authors on the various facets of communication prevalent in India.

He set about making amends in his own way by preparing notes for his students. His first edition of 150 pages was brought out in 1981 at a cost of Rs. 10.

After that he moved abroad to do his doctoral thesis and also teach mass communication.

When he came back in the late eighties, he was taken aback on seeing the changes that had taken place in the field of mass communication.

It took him some time to update his book and release the second edition.

He has come a long way since 1981 and mass communication too has come a long way in India. Nevertheless even today his book rules the roost.

"The sad thing in India is that media professionals are busy making money. They do not have time to write for students. There is also a dearth of good media institutes and qualified teachers to teach mass communication," he laments.

On the proliferation of electronic media, he says, "Journalism has no threat from electronic media. The glamour found in the electronic media will eventually wear off. With rising literacy levels, the newspaper reading momentum will keep increasing. Also the language papers will slowly overtake the English papers in some five years time."

He lays strong emphasis on media ethics, press laws and media laws for some kind of control. "The fourth estate should be like a watch dog. Its raison-d'etre is to provide credible information," he said.

He also feels that a media regulatory authority like the Ofcom (Office of Communications) in Britain should be constituted to regulate the performance of the media in India.

On the topic of media education, he says, "Media qualification is much required for taking up a profession in the media. It is not enough to know the language. Theory, history, practice and skills can be derived only from media education. It is also a profession."

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