Students participated enthusiastically in a panel discussion on career opportunities in media, at the Bharatesh Education Trust’s Global Business School organised by The Hindu in Belagavi on Saturday.
Students not only asked questions to the panellists about media jobs, but also about the state of Indian and international media, current trends and possible future scenarios.
A panel consisting of circulation and advertising officers from The Hindu and domain experts – Chandrakanth Sugandhi, a reporter with TV18 channel, and Naushad Bijapur, senior journalist of Deccan Chronicle , answered their queries.
Students in the Master of Business Administration class were equally interested in understanding the media industry and its growth prospects. They wanted to know the difference between news and advertising, and the difference each made to the format and design of the paper. They wanted details of the job profiles of the heads of various sections in newspapers and TV channels, and how they coordinate. They also wanted to know about the constant tussles between the editorial and business departments.
Manjunth Kusabi, Circulation Officer, The Hindu, said that the success of the media house was measured by the extent and quality of coordination between various departments.
Social media
A discussion on social media took half the time of the discussion. Students were wary of contributing to the spread of fake news and complained that they were overwhelmed by the sheer quantum of updates and alerts they received from news websites. Mr. Bijapur asked them to check each post they liked or shared and asked them to keep referring to public domain libraries and Wikipedia.
Nagaraj Phatak, advertisement officer, The Hindu , answered questions about the revenue model of newspapers and channels and how online advertising was a challenge faced by most media houses.
Mr. Sugandhi, an alumnus of the Department of Journalism in Karnataka University, Dharwad, faced questions like why are there several types of papers - for general readers and businessmen, or sports or film lovers and for people with specific interests? He also spoke about the various types of media and how the growth of new media was threatening the traditional platforms.
Earlier, Mr Kusabi spoke about the origin and evolution of media houses in India, the share of various forms of media in the Indian market and possible career opportunities in the sector. Director Uday Lawate moderated the discussion and faculty members Swathee Jog, D. Prasad, Bharat Kumar, and others were present.
