Finally, a lecture on Editing?

Journalism Lectures, Day-8

Finally, I attended a lecture on the topic of Editing! The lecturer has been working with "The Statesman" for more than 30 years now! Started off his career with the newspaper in the capacity of a sub-editor.

Like most of the other lecturers at the institute, he's tremendously energetic. Anyone belonging to the Indian Media has to be full of energy and vibrancy, though not necessarily intelligent and well informed.;-)(There! I blew my chances of getting an internship! LoL)

On a more serious note, the class room lectures on Journalism are so different from what I have gone through doing my school and college days. There's so much to learn and enjoy. A real pity that I have to rush off to work, right after the lecture hours end. Don't get much time to interact with my classmates and lecturers at the institute.

The lecturer for today, talked about "newsworthiness". He provided a not- too-dissimilar version of "what is News" from what the lecturer on Reporting had provided.

A classmate was disgruntled with the state of affairs of the Indian Media. She talked about principles, ethics and morals associated with the noble profession of journalism.

"Why does the Abhi-Ash wedding appear on the front page of a national daily?", she inquired.

"Because, that's what the Indian readers wanted to read about! That's what they were keenly interested in, at that point in time", answered the lecturer.

But my classmate wasn't convinced. "Then the Print Media is all about popularism and making lots of money. A business, not a mission." she argued.

"Times have changed and we must learn to adapt to the changing circumstances.", the lecturer continued.

"Yes, times have changed. But at what cost?", the girl grumbled.

"We'll discuss how to balance the principles, ethics and morals side of journalism with the business aspect of it, in my next class", the lecturer assured us and took his leave.

I rushed off too; was getting late for work!

Newspaper Management

Journalism Lectures, Day-7

Another lecture hour, this time in Newspaper Management . This is one lecturer who has not yet informed us about his professional background. Or maybe, I missed that part! But he's very serious about the task of imparting knowledge to his students and has, very clearly, conveyed what he expects from us. I am thoroughly impressed with his professionalism!

So what did he lecture us on? Well, he talked about the definition of Management, Levels of Management and Functions of Management and explained its relevance in the context of a newspaper syndicate.

Definition of Management: "Management is a unique combination of art and science to get the things done by someone else, for the accomplishment of organizational goals."

He has explained and repeated the definition of Management so many times, that I don't think I'll ever forget his version of the same.

Levels of Management: Upper, Middle and Lower

If I understood correctly, in terms of a newspaper house, the levels of management would be:

Upper management- Owner and Chief-editor
Middle management- Sub-editors
Lower management- Reporters

Functions of Management:

1) Planning; (P)
2) Organizing; (O)
3) Directing; (D)
4) Staffing; (S)
5) Co-ordinating; (C)
6) Reporting; (R)
7) Controlling; (C)
8) Budgeting. (B)

I used "PODS-CRCB" to recollect the Functions of Management.

Tomorrow another day, another lecturer and more to follow on learning journalism .