Idea of the programme
Firstly, the idea behind the mentorship programme comes from a belief that a dedicated student, on completion of the Bachelor’s degree, is capable of becoming a good journalist provided there is adequate and proper mentoring. Unfortunately because of the pressures of daily journalism, the mentoring process, which was in place with seniors educating their juniors, is not available.

Secondly, the mentoring programme comes from a belief, backed by more than adequate research in the field of education, that a good teacher is more important for learning than infrastructure. It is commonplace to showcase the number of computers, acres of land, buildings, and even classrooms equipped with the latest projection devices. But the quality of those teaching is never discussed. As Bill Gates, who has funded education initiatives through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, mentioned in his inaugural 2009 Annual Letter: “It is amazing how big a difference a great teacher makes versus an ineffective one. Research shows that there is only half as much variation in student achievement between schools as there is among classrooms in the same school. If you want your child to get the best education possible, it is actually more important to get him assigned to a great teacher than to a great school.”

Thirdly, the mentoring programme comes from a belief that journalism is a craft that is best learned when there is the continuous give and take that the mentoring process provides. The Socratic method of questions and more questions and the discipline of conversation as a practice based on wide reading provide the right foundation of becoming a journalist.

Fourthly, the mentoring programme is based on a rigorous seminar method of teaching and discussing ideas followed by a daily practice of writing.

Knowledge refers to the what and why. What debates should inform a piece of reportage? What pieces of information and knowledge are crucial to understanding the story? Why do some processes achieve salience and not others? What do the words of a dead philosopher have to do with the protest at the street corner or the budget that is presented? All these questions can be answered with knowledge that is broad and diverse.

Hence, the mentorship programme will teach skills and help build a minimum body of information and knowledge to at least make it possible to understand the events and processes in society. The knowledge section will mean reading scholarly articles, books, book chapters, debates, proceedings and even literature every week on such diverse issues as constitutional law, economic history of India, consequentialist versus deontological views on ethics, Indian history, technology and its uses. The skills section will be tailored to meet the interests of the students, but it will compulsorily imply news gathering and news reporting. It may include design, television anchoring, voice and sports reporting if there is even one student who has an interest in the field.

The knowledge sequence will be common. News gathering and reporting will be common. All other segments will be tailored as per the preferences of the students.

Fourteen months of the course are divided into 4 quarters of 3 months each and two 1-month internships. There is a mid-course internship and an end of the course internship. Every student will be expected to take four courses every quarter. Each course is a three-credit course, which means that the classes will meet for at least three hours every week for three months. For every course a minimum of 12 hours of work has to be put in. That is the basic minimum expectation.

QUARTER I	QUARTER II
History of Journalism	Media Law
Imagining India I	Imagining India II
Living India I	Living India II
Reporting I	Reporting II

 

QUARTER III	QUARTER IV
Media Ethics	Media and Society
Research Methods	Research Paper
Reporting III	Reporting IV
Editing I (Print & Web)	Editing II (Print & Web)
Photojournalism I	Photojournalism II
Print Design I	Print Design II
Broadcasting (Radio/TV) I	Broadcasting (Radio/TV) II
Narrative Writing I	Narrative Writing II
Documentary Film-making I	Documentary Film-making II

Compulsory

Electives

Please note that the course is structured to provide a grasp of those subjects and areas that are needed to become a good journalist. While most of the course names are fairly self-explanatory, a word about Imagining India and Living India and the Reporting sequence. Imagining India is a course that looks at how the nation and the state have been imagined by leading political and social thinkers like Gandhi, Ambedkar, Savarkar, Aurobindo, Lohia, Periyar, Iqbal, Narayana Guru among others. It will examine political philosophy, the Indian constitution, economic philosophies that have underpinned the imagination at work in the country. The course will draw upon political philosophy, social and economic theory, and constitutional law. Living India is a course that looks at how people have lived in the country. It draws upon sociology, anthropology and history. Reporting is a four sequence course that will take the students from the basics of reporting to beats. It is designed like the later elective sequences as a course where students will have to write stories. All forms of writing and all major beats in a news gathering organization will be covered in these classes. Basic numeracy, scientific knowledge and basic awareness of the world is built into this sequence, which will apply the learning from the other classes.

What will the experience entail
The mentorship programme is designed as an intensive learning experience where the students will work long and hard. There will be reading assignments for each class meeting, which they will be expected to complete before the session so that they participate in the discussions. Journalism Mentor will involve reading, writing, editing, and discussing on a daily basis. The experience will be akin to going on an educational journey for 12 months with the best and the brightest around you.

Facilities
Every student will be provided access to a desktop computer for the duration of the course. It will have all the necessary software needed for learning any skill that is required for the successful completion of the programme. For example, a student wanting to learn video editing for news will have access to a video editing software. The students will be expected to buy compulsory texts and will be given reading material. Students will have access to all such educational material as would be deemed necessary to master the course material. A well-equipped library with access to books and periodicals will be at the disposal of the students.

The course will be held in Mumbai at the Journalism Mentor Centre. All help will be provided to outstation candidates to find accommodation near the JMC so that they can devote their energy to the course. Further, all help and advice will be given to the successful candidates to ensure that they are able to pursue the course with minimum distraction.