Targeted Research to
Empower Change

Activity 2007-2010

 

First ever conference on "Public Diplomacy in the Information Age" by CMS Academy-Public Diplomacy division of the Ministry of External Affairs, GOI in New Delhi in 2010

A discussion on "Whether India should have a national policy on media?" January 2009

A debate and Seminar on "Does Media Need a Lakshman Rekha?" November 2008

CMS Academy Awards for Telugu Media in 2007

CMS Symbols-International Symposia on Communication for Social Development,2007 SN School, University of Hyderabad

CMS Academy's MoU with Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California, USA; Stirling University, Scotland; InHolland University, Netherlands; Ohio University, USA and Academy for Educational Development (AED),Washington USA

Workshops on "Communication for Career Development" programme at Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH)

Workshops on sustainable transport system issues like fuel efficiency, non-motorised transport (NMT) and Ahmedabad BRT

 

Faculty Development Programme - To Support Research And Innovation In Media Institutions In India And The United Kingdom (as on July 2014)
 

This project funded by UKIERI envisions faculty development as the mode to develop quality standards and standardizations in this sector. This is based on the belief that faculty are key for enabling research culture and innovation in this sector. The Faculty development program will address emerging developmental needs of educators from the media sector in India with a special focus on News Media Education.

  • British Council - Institutional Capacity Building, UKIERI
  • Conduct research to identify key trends and quality issues in media education in India and the UK, mapping the professional, institutional and industrial relationships which contextualize media education.
  • Review and analyze Skill Development / Higher Education sector experience, compare delivery patterns and approaches, and document best practice in news media education in the UK and India.
  • Set goals and standards for media education to enhance employability of news professionals through development of quality parameters in both Higher Education and Skill Development courses in India, and evaluate educational structures for best performance.
  • Create interactive training fora for sharing best practices in both media education and in the pedagogical techniques which best enable faculty development. 
     

Main activities:

 
  • Preliminary research to map the media education sector- The main activities of the preliminary research included creation of database of media institutes, training providers, departments (university) and Trainers in NEWS Media Education. Preliminary research of mapping media schools, universities, institutes, etc under categories such distance learning, private, government were created. A total of 240 institutes, colleges and universities all across India that offers courses in Mass Communication/ Journalism/ Media Studies.
  • Identifying key Stakeholders- We also identified stakeholders in the NEWS media industry, education and policy sector. Based on the list, we prioritized and shortlisted invitees for the first stakeholder meet on 19th August, 2013 with approximately 50 members representing academia, government, media industry and civil society. Out of these stakeholders, 4-5 prominent people from different sectors have been selected to become the Advisory Group members.
  • Stakeholder meeting in August- The stakeholder meeting was called "Symposium on NEWS Media Education in India" with 3 panel discussions and 5 Simultaneous Moderated Discussions planned for the day. The objective of the meeting was to identify the faculty development needs in the sector, to bring fund raising for sustainability, to share the faculty development programme roll out plan and get feedback. Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Mr. Manish Tewari inaugurated the symposium.
 

He laid stress on the quality of media education in the country and suggested that there could be a common entrance exam that could standardize the quality of media education. Experts from the industry speaking in the panel discussions, stressed on the need to orient journalism students to the industry needs and standards while academicians suggested that there's a need to bridge the gap between academics and industry. The event received wide coverage in national media.

Indian Advisory Group Meeting: The Indian Advisory Group comprising of Professor BP Sanjay (Faculty, University of Hyderabad), Dr. Nalini Rajan (Dean of Studies, Asian College of Journalism), Professor Ashok Ogra (Director, Apeejay Institute of Mass Communication) and Mr. Shravan Kumar Garg (Editor, Nai Duniya) met for the first time on April 29, 2014.

 
 
 

The meeting was also attended by Dr. N Bhaskara Rao, Chairman, CMS, and CMS team, UK partner of the project, Professor Matthew Hibberd Professor of Communications and Head of Communications, Media and Culture, University of Stirling. Ms. PN Vasanti, Director, CMS and project leader gave an overview of the project and discussed the roles of the advisory group members. 

Professor Matthew also provided an update on the UK team as well as the study being conducted by the university. The agenda of the IAB meeting was to introduce the Advisory Group members and discuss their roles in the project. CMS Academy will be seeking feedback on project process, activities, and outcomes from them. The members will also help in suggesting ideas for advocacy with stakeholders (including policy makers) and sustainability of project outputs/outcomes.  

 

Stakeholders' meeting-

 The second stakeholders' meeting called Consultative Meet on News Media Education in India was also held on April 29, 2014 after the IAG meeting. The meeting was attended by faculty members of media colleges, institutes and universities from New Delhi, government officials, media experts and industry professionals apart from the IAG members. Some of the participants representing academia and industry are Dr Ranjana Dev Sarmah, Director, EMMC; Mr. Satyakki, Head of HR, ABP Group; Dr. NK Trikha, Senior Professor, MCUC; Professor Pervaiz Alam, Dean, Apeejay STYA University; Mr. Anand Pradhan, Associate Professor, IIMC; Ms. Shashwati Goswami, Associate Professor, IIMC; Ms Mannika Chopra, Senior Journalist; Ms Shalini Singh, Principal Correspondent, The Week; Ms Gauri Chakraborty, Associate Professor, Amity University; Dr CP Singh, Dean, USMC, IP University; Pushkar Pushp, Editor, mediakhabar.com and others.