IIMC Meet: More Faculties For Quality Media Education Stressed

GUWAHATI: The Increased flow of brilliant students and provision for quality professional education can bring about significant qualitative changes in the media, veteran journalist and author Subir Bhaumik said here on Sunday. Taking part in the Northeast edition of ‘Connections 2019’ – the annual alumni meet of Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) in Guwahati on Sunday evening, Bhaumik, a former BBC correspondent said there was enough potential among students across the Northeastern region to become good journalists, provided they join good media institutes which focus on development communication.

‘The Northeast is a storehouse of potential journalists and communicators. Communities in the region have inherent communication skills which can help young students become excellent journalists and communicators. Establishment of an IIMC campus for the Northeast in Aizawl has opened new vistas of quality media education in the region. More and more students from the region should opt for such institutes,’ Bhaumik, a former IIMC alumnus hailing from Tripura who has carved out a niche for himself in media across Southeast Asia, said.

Speaking on the occasion, IIMC National Council Member and a senior Delhi-based journalist, Ritesh Verma said, while IIMC has been imparting quality media education in India and the developing world since its establishment in the early 1960s, the IIMC alumni have not only remained confined to media and communication, but forayed into various fields and made significant contribution. ‘It is very exciting and gladdening that IIMC alumni are all over, from the IAS and IPS and other central services to film-making and entrepreneurship. IIMC has also proved to be the epicenter of quality education for advertising and public relations, and many big names in the field of advertising and PR in India are today from this reputed institute,’ Verma said.

According to a press release, Manas Pratim Sarma and Manoj Khandelwal, both Guwahati-based IIMC alumni urged the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to urgently appoint adequate number of permanent faculty so that the newly-constructed IIMC campus in Aizawl can accommodate more students from the 2019 batch. Mrigendra Pandey of Raipur and Gaurav Choudhury of Kolkata attended the meeting as guests of honour.

Presided over by Samudra Gupta Kashyap, the meeting also expressed concern over increased pressure on media in India in the past few years. The meeting also condemned the arrest of Manipur journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhem under National Security Act in November 2018 and demanded his immediate release. The meeting also condemned the recent attack on Guwahati-based journalist Chakrapani Parashar and wished him speedy recovery.

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