Think outside the classroom

For BMM students, classroom lectures are only one-fourth the battle won. If you want to be a media professional, you need to focus on projects, internships and college fests, finds media student Mahalakshmi Subramanian

“Since projects are mostly application based, they help us acquire realistic, useful knowledge. Although following professors’ guidelines is necessary, incorporating your own creativity to the theory is what makes for a good project.” TANYA BHOSALE, TYBMM STUDENT, ST XAVIER’S COLLEGE

With a multitude of students thronging colleges for admissions, seats for the bachelor of mass media (BMM) programme usually fill up by the second merit list itself. This course, which allows you to specialise in advertising or journalism in year three, deviates from the Mumbai University’s traditional course format, in that only 50% of the programme focuses on classroom theory. In fact, for an ambitious mass media graduate, lectures and textbook study just do not suffice.
Project work
For media students, classroom notes are meant to serve as starting points, to help them think about how to use that knowledge in a practical scenario. Live projects, which form the other 50% of the grading criteria, are assignments that range from making a poster or filming a documentary to writing the script for a new TV show, or marketing a new, (sometimes hypothetical) product. Although the internet is a useful resource, most of these projects do not find answers on Google, and require thorough field research, technical skills and creative thought.
“Since projects are mostly application based, they help us acquire realistic, useful knowledge,” says Tanya Bhosale, TYBMM student from St Xavier’s College. “Although following professors’ guidelines is necessary, incorporating your own innovation and creativity to that theoretical knowledge is what makes for a good project.” Madhuri Raijada, BMM coordinator, St Xavier’s College adds, “The assignments are designed to help students gain knowledge about several issues and sensitise them. Hence, it is important for them to approach these with full commitment and honesty.”
College fests

While college fests may seem like they’re all about the fun, BMM professors say that they give students valuable lessons in management and bridge creativity with pragmatism. “Students learn time management, marketing skills and the importance of team work when they are organising festivals,” says S Varalakshmi, BMM coordinator, Jai Hind College. “They come to understand the knack of pitching their idea to sponsors in order to generate funds. Also, their abilities are put to test as they are pitted against future industry competitors.”
Khadija Tambawala, chairperson of Detour (2011), Jai Hind’s BMM festival, says, “You’re coordinating with so many people to ensure that the final day goes smoothly, the college’s quality standard is upheld and participants have a great time. This sort of effective management of teams has given me confidence and essential leadership skills.”
Internships
While class work, projects and college fests teach you skills from within an academic environment, internships give you an opportunity to use these abilities for actual media organisations.
“It is in an internship that a student applies the knowledge acquired through projects. Apart from gaining hands-on experience, students become aware as to which branch suits them and which does not. If they perform well, they may even secure permanent placement,” says Manjula Shrinivas, BMM coordinator, KC College.
Vishaka Chakrapani, TYBMM student at KC College who spent her holidays interning at a news channel, says “Field work gave me an opportunity to understand what goes into making a news show, and how to write an effective script with brevity. My first assignment was to cover a press conference held by the president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, to get his opinion about foreign trips taken by ministers for education, for which the state had to incur expenses. Being the only junior reporter there was a nerve-wracking but exciting experience.”