How did IIJNM cope up with the global pandemic situation due to Covid-19

For somebody coming from a relatively small city, IIJNM helped me a great deal. Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media pulled me out of my comfort zone the first week itself and pushed me out there to deal with realities by myself. Looking back, I think I managed to do it.

Ideally, the academic year should have started in July 2020, but then again, nothing has been ideal since Covid-19 has struck. However, it did start in August, albeit at a slower pace than I had imagined. When the classes started on Zoom, it was not the everyday run-of-the-mill experience. There were black boxes instead of real people, to begin with, and all the classes were held online, and we mastered it.

Reading newspapers every morning became the norm, and systematically raising the hand on Zoom and talking took over the regular chaos otherwise news classes would have induced. Being an introvert, I was always wary of speaking spontaneously, but in fact, online classes helped me a lot to raise my hand and speak. I never thought online classes would prepare me for the offline classes that eventually started in January.

When the classes started on Zoom, it was not the everyday run-of-the-mill experience. There were black boxes instead of real people, to begin with, and all the classes were held online, and we mastered it.

I was very sceptical of the whole online class set-up when we received an email. Until the end, a part of me still hoped that they would start offline classes from August itself. But I was taken aback when the classes started because I never thought it would turn out to be fun. Boot camp was held in the first month where we were introduced to the basics of well, everything. There were presentations at the end of every week, where we learnt the nuances of newspaper layouts, broadcast productions and multimedia websites.

I had taken broadcast initially but later changed it to multimedia at the end of the boot camp. Looking back, it would remain one of the best decisions in life. As the classes started, the professors had made sure that all theory-oriented electives would be pushed to the first semester from the second to make sure we would not miss out on any practical learning. That was a very smart idea because when we went to the campus in the second semester, for the four months that we were there, we had a lot of time for beats and the capstone project. 

As the classes started, the professors had made sure that all theory-oriented electives would be pushed to the first semester from the second to make sure we would not miss out on any practical learning.

The three beats that we had in our first semester were online. I had never thought I would be able to pull off doing beats online. For somebody who did not have a lot of experience doing stories, the three beats gave me an ample amount of time to learn to talk to sources and write them. Yes, it was online, and production days were just like any other day, on Zoom, putting stories on the drive and working on it, but they were fun too. I was a little anxious that I would probably have to spend the entire year working from home, without having to go to the campus at all.

Then it was the end of December just like that, we had published three stories, and finished off a whole range of electives online too. Not to mention, I did learn a lot from all of them. For somebody who has never been outside her town, online classes sort of got me ready for January when IIJNM opened its gates for us. I knew people already; I knew the professors and I got adapted to the new environment in literally the blink of an eye.

For somebody who has never been outside her town, online classes sort of got me ready for January when IIJNM opened its gates for us.

The offline classes were amazing. There was another boot camp of sorts, in the beginning, to bring us up to speed. The practical classes that were online in the first semester, especially the video and audio tools, were taught again at the beginning of the second semester. It was fun, getting to learn all of them, and feeling like a real journalist every damn day.

After a month of the second boot camp, we were sent off to the city to bring story ideas (yes, you start to live and breathe story ideas after a point), and to understand and know the city. Those four months that I was there, going off to the city to get story ideas, talking to sources for real, coming back and writing them, that’s when I truly lived. Before I realised it, the cases in the city started going up, and even though the management fought the hardest to keep the college open, eventually we had to leave. And, just like that, we were back to look at the Zoom boxes again, and doing stories online. Given that we were already trained in the first semester for this, it was not that hard. Doing stories came naturally, and especially in the dailies at the end, where we had to do the story and produce it on the same day, I had never thought we would be able to pull off doing them online with the Covid-19 cases at an all-time high in most parts of the country.

Those four months that I was there, going off to the city to get story ideas, talking to sources for real, coming back and writing them, that’s when I truly lived. Before I realised it, the cases in the city started going up, and even though the management fought the hardest to keep the college open, eventually we had to leave.

But then again, we pulled off a lot more things than we had thought given the exceptional year it was. And, just like that Capstone project was done, the Viva was held, and the graduation ceremony too happened online, even though I wanted to be there on the campus for that. I mean, would you not want to get your diploma amidst the trees and the aesthetics that the campus is in?

It was a roller-coaster ride, first online, then offline, then online again, but looking back, in hindsight, every decision that I took, be it changing to multimedia from broadcast, be it the story ideas that I pitched, the stories that I chose to do, the ones I didn’t, the memories I made, friends I chose to be with, everything has been one of the best so far. IIJNM was a train ride, the ride that I did not want to end, but it did end, but the ride was a great one, one that I will cherish forever.

About the author

Sindhu Nagaraj is a trainee journalist at Indian Institute of Journalism and New Media. Prior to this, she has experience of working with Times of India as a Trainee Journalist; Centre Fellow at U&I trust; and Unofficial Tourist Guide-Story Telling Division at India Lost and Found by Amit Paricha

 

 

 

 

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha