For the Love of Communication

Have you ever wondered what the similarity is between a student of MBA and a student of Journalism? It’s not really a hard one to guess, but people normally would avoid such confusion. Nevertheless, it’s not the end of the world.

I have a small story to tell before I answer the above question. When one of my friends started teaching journalism at a state-run university, reality was something that hit him hard. He felt that the dice was never rolled. People were hesitant and not ready to evolve. For some people, a little ‘push’ was enough, but these guys definitely didn’t want to be touched. Because to them my friend was a new problem; to handle an uptight young teacher who wanted them to gulp down everything at once! “Jeez! How much he talks!” someone whispered from the corner.

My friend could have ignored them and moved on with his classes just for the sake of finishing the course. Life could have been a little easier for him and of course for me; I didn’t have to write this piece. But my friend was a bit stubborn. His instinct pushed him forward to take a chance and modernize his students, perhaps to change their mindset. There was an urgent need to recalibrate their attitude towards technology: selfietisers to techie journalists. He tried to push, encourage and fix, but in vain.

“There is no dearth of talents. What they lack is competitiveness”. A serious communication problem. Words don’t just come out as a means to say or express. Forget English! Vernacular language is also of no help”, he said. After 17-18 classes, he somehow managed to motivate a few, but not the whole class. So can we say our dear friend finally won? No, He lost it.

One can definitely learn grammar and ways to write better. But how will one imbibe the attitude of being contemporaneous? How would one make sure that one has the right spirit and aggressiveness to follow the trends? This is something journalism schools in India aren’t ready to address. This is a deficit, a big one!

What my dear friend and I believe is being techno savvy should not be a compulsion. It should be an attitude geared up in the right direction. Communication skills and technological prowess are vital aspects of journalism. If someone fails to express or adapt to the changing scenario, things will always be worse for him or her. I have seen people take up journalism courses just for the sake of it. “I was sitting idle at home. So I thought I would do something. So I joined journalism” a young girl in her mid-twenties, makes her point. But is she ready for the class? No, she ain’t! She doesn’t have the habit of reading newspapers, magazines, webzines, and novels but she has such a huge smart phone. But all she does with that is take ‘selfies’ 40 times a day and shares it on social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Hike. Little does she know that she could tell wonderful stories using Instagram. She could use apps like Zinio, Worldreader, New York Times, Huffington Post and Readwhere; she can be a little wiser and up-to-date. But she prefers Candy Crush Saga.

The next big questions - can she comprehend or follow the classroom instructions? Is she smart enough to give an alternative viewpoint? I highly doubt that. As far I know, people in the year 2015 normally don’t read the basic text books prescribed to them in their syllabus. Google is always the best friend!

I shall now return to the question that I asked in the first paragraph. Yes! There is a similarity between a student of MBA and a student of Journalism. It is the ‘communication’. What more can be added to the answer is adaptability, innovative approach, a sense of competitiveness, and technological competency. Moreover, successful people do read a lot. They do gossip and it’s called a ‘productive discussion’. They believe in a constant learning and they do update themselves about every single development in the world. Basically, they learn from everyone, even from a shopkeeper down the street. They have an approach of maintaining humility, no matter how successful they become. That’s all we need. We should all be passionate learners and must strive towards perfection.

With this, we kick-start this blog ‘Communication Pod’.

By- Smarak Samarjeet