Mass Communication or Journalism?

Garima Upadhyay Rawat

Are you an aspiring journalist or a celebrity media professional? If yes, time is ripe for you to join the media bandwagon. The media industry is a popular choice for youngsters with a strong personality wanting to be seen and heard. Mass Communication and Journalism courses have gained much popularity in the recent past. With the media industry proliferating (thanks to digitisation of media), students can look forward to working in a dynamic industry.

However, with such variety of courses available, students often find themselves confused about their choice of programme. The biggest confusion arises between courses in Journalism and Mass communication. While the two are often used interchangeably by people at large, there are subtle differences an aspirant should know to make an informed career choice.

As the name suggests, mass communication is about disseminating information to the masses at local, national or international levels with or without a necessary intent. Journalism is more about telling a story, informing people about something (meaningful). Journalism is more conventional in its approach with information and facts taking centre stage. While, mass media is more about letting your creative instincts take over.

There may not be clear cut differences between the two. Broadly, it is believed that Journalism is tilted towards news reporting be it for newspapers, magazines or television, while mass communication is a broader field encompassing films, online media, documentary, television, radio, graphics, events, advertising, corporate communications and so on.

Mass communication encompasses the various means by which individuals or organisations present information (via media) to people. For example, it relates to newspaper and magazine publishing, radio, television and films, as these are all used both for disseminating news and for advertising. Journalism, on the other hand, is the practice of investigating and reporting events, issues and trends to a broad set of audiences. The field includes editing, reporting, photojournalism, and documentary making.

Most professionals in journalism or mass communication are responsible for gathering facts/ opinions/ perceptions and informing the public about local, state, national, and international affairs. Often journalists are assigned a beat to cover like health, politics, business, international polity, sports, religion, theatre, weather, or social events etc. Although studies in journalism overlap with communications, journalism focuses on the written product (e.g. newspaper articles), whereas, mass communication covers a broad range of publications from writing for advertisements to broadcasting.

Until a couple of years back, there were not many course options available for undergraduate studies, but now students can choose from popular courses like bachelor in Journalism, bachelor in journalism and mass communication, bachelor in mass media and mass communication, bachelor in communication studies etc.

At the postgraduate level, students have the option of choosing between masters and postgraduate diploma courses. One can find courses in convergent journalism, advertising and PR, print and TV journalism, film studies, broadcast journalism, radio and TV production etc.

With such a variety to choose from, students are advised to pay a lot of attention to the programme they select. If you are more inclined towards the print industry, it makes sense to choose a print journalism programme than opting for a full-fledged course in mass communication. Similarly, if events and advertising appeal to you, don’t opt for a programme that’s related to print.

Although pure journalism courses no longer restrict only to aspects of print journalism and go beyond to include subjects like film appreciation, advertising, PR, radio and television etc, but with changing times, it is advisable to do a convergent journalism course that prepares you well for the mass media industry. It exposes you to the interdisciplinary approach of looking at events and presenting a comprehensive perspective.

Media is an exciting industry, extremely dynamic and full of opportunities. If you want to make a career here, you should be fast paced and have sharp observation. The industry is welcoming with ample scope to grow for those who are ready to work really very hard!