Journalism Bodies in India

Professional Bodies An Overview

NOTWITHSTANDING the impressive growth of the big and medium newspapers and in spite of all-round inflation in the country, the wages of journalists in India continue to be very low. Two statutory wage boards (one for working journalists and the other for non-journalists) were constituted by the Union government in June 1975 and February 1976. respectively, but these were not able to function effectively. The government, therefore, appointed a one-man tribunal headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice D. G. Palekar. in February 1979 for recommending a new wage structure for journalists and other newspaper employees.

The Palekar Tribunal, in its interim report, recommended revision of pay scales of both journalists and non-journalists to compensate for the rising cost of living, The tribunal has classified newspapers into nine categories. the highest being those newspapers which have a grass income of $31 million to $62 million a year. Under the lowest category come newspapers with a gross income of less than $62,000 a year. The recommended wage for a newly appointed reporter in the lowest class newspaper is $60 per month. A reporter of an A class newspaper (that is. with a gross income of $12.5 million annually) is recommended a monthly wage of $125. Even this recommended wage for journalists is lower than the existing salaries of bank clerks and public sector workers who get average emoluments of $125 to $150 after putting in a few years of service.

As early as 1891. there existed a Native Press Association in india. in 1915 the Press Association of India was formed to defend the interests of the press and protect it by legislation and executive action. By the 1920s many pressmen’s associations were formed. The Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society (IENS) was formed in 1939 as a central organisation of Indian. Burmese. Ceylonese news papers to promote their corn mon interest, especially business interests. Today, the IENS has no members from Burma or Sri Lanka but its Indian member ship has gone up substantially The LENS currently has 350 member-publications and 170 accredited advertising agencies It has emerged as the most powerful representative organisation of the newspaper owners mostly those running big and medium dailies and periodicals.

The other prominent organisation is the All India News papers Editors’ Conference (AINEC), founded in 1940. It was the first professional organisation in India to take up the question of working conditions of journalists.

The Editors’ Guild of India was formed as a direct consequence of pressures on the press during the Emergency (197577). The Guild seeks to promote professional standards, to uphold the freedom of the press and other mass media and to safeguard editorial independence.

The Indian Languages Newspapers Association (ILNA) (founded in 1970), the Specialised Publications Association (1959). the Trade and Technical Publications Association (1957). and the All India Small and Medium Newspapers Federation (MSMNF) (1968) are some of the other organisations of editors or newspaper owners.

Among journalists’ associations are the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ). the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the All India Newspaper Employees Federaration (AINEF). The IFWJ founded in 1950. is a federal all. India body representing journalists' trade unions. The IFWJ claims to represent a large number of working journalists in the country. The NUJ has fewer members than the IFWJ. The Press Guild of India. established in 1955, has both journalists and non-journalistic members. Persons eminent in public life are made honorary members.

Trade and professional asso ciations include the Audit Bureau of Circulations (registered in 1948), the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAl) (1945). the Advertising Council of India (1959). the Society of Advertising Practitioners (1953). the National Council of Advertising Agencies (1967). the Indian Society of Advertisers (1952) and the Indian Federation of Master Printers. These agencies have enriched and helped in the evolution and growth of the Indian press. The Press Institute of India, a professional body for Indian newspapers and journalists was set up in 1963. It came into being as a result of efforts by the International Press Institute (IPI) and a small group of newspaper publishers and editors in India.

IPI has emerged as an important centre for discussion and research on fundamental problems affecting the Indian press. It not only runs courses and organises workshops and seminars for media professionals but it also provides consultancy in the media field advises the Indian government on media affairs and collaborates with various national and international media and academic agencies on similar programmes. It Is currently headed by Mr Chanchal Sarkar.

Besides the DAVP, there are six other agencies engaged in assisting the press. These are the Press Information Bureau. the Registrar of Newspapers for India the Publications Division. the Research and Reference Division and the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. The total expenditure on these agencies as well as on the news agencies, Press Commission and Press Council. was £13 million in 1980. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is one of the principal media of publicity which liaises among the Dress, the official media and the government. PIB services are made available to 5.613 newspapers in 18 languages through a network of 33 regional and branch offices.

PIB organises multi-media publicity campaigns for the various government programmes. PIB’s photo unit arranges pictorial coverage of important events and distributes photographs to newspapers and journals all over India. The feature service of PIB provides developmental features based on the spot micro-level studies of development programmes in the States. PIE brings out the fortnightly wall rural newspaper 'Hamara Desh' in 12 ion ranges It is also the press accreditation agency for the Union government. In 1980. there were 500 correspondents and 100 photographers accredited to PIB Its budget for 1980, was- $1.91 million.

The functions of the office of the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) include formulation and implementation of the government’s newsprint allocation policy, registration and clearance of titles of journals: handling requests for import of printing machinery, and maintenance of a register on newspapers in the country. The total number of newspapers and journals on record as on December 31. 1978 was 18,446 This has since gone up to 20,000. The RNI budget for 1980 was $287,000

The photo division, the largest and most well-equipped production unit of its kind in The country, provides photographs for publicising the activities of the ministries and departments of the central government; The division’s photographs are a supplement to the material produced by PIE. The division Is fully equipped to handle colour transparencies and photographs. The division recently set up fully-equipped regional offices in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. The photo division’s budget in 1980 was $530,000.

The Research and Reference Division (RRD) prepares special, papers on topical subjects for use of editorial writers, small and medium newspapers and media units, In particular. the division studies trends in mass communication media, and maintains a reference and documentation service on current affairs and mass media. The division also publishes two reference books India:
A Reference Annual, a standard work of reference on India. and Mass Media in India, a yearly publication on is mass communications in the country, The National Documentation Centre on Mass Communications set up in RRD in 1976 issues Media Memory, a hi-monthly digest of events in the field of mass media. The RRD’s budget for 1980 was $ 110,000.

The Publications Division is the biggest publishing house In the public sector in India. It publishes priced publications, journals and other printed material In ten languages The division has published a series on "Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi". Its journals are Yojna. Kurukshetra Bhagirath. Aikal Bal thi Emolument News. Rozgar Samachar and Indian & Foreign Review Foreign News is fortnightly devoted to India's external affairs and is meant for external circulation only. The Publications Division has 14 offices and sales emporia The sales revenues of the division were $ 1.1 million in 1979 Its budget for 1980 was $ 1. 71 million.

The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) was established in August 1965 as a centre for advanced study in mass communication techniques and it became an autonomous body in January 1966. IIMC runs a post-graduate diploma course in journalism for developing countries and another course or’ news agency journalism for media personnel from Asian and African countries, It also runs refresher courses for government media personnel and a training course in communication and foreign relations for Indian Foreign Service (IFS) probationers.

IIMC has been developing a framework of research and contributing to the creation of an information infrastructure suitable not only for India but for all developing countries. The research department of IIMC has completed many studies and surveys whose findings have been published, Important hooks brought out by IIMC include A Manual for New Agency Reporters: A Style-Book for Journalists: Communication and Development: Cinema in the Developing World. and Media and the Third World. The IIMC budget for 1980 was $445.000 and its new- campus is coming up at Delhi’s prestigious jawaharlal Nehru University complex.

The first course in journalism was offered in India in 1929 at National University, Advar . However, the effort did not last long. Aligarh Muslim University introduced a journalism course in 1988 but it also fizzled out within two years. The oldest and surviving journalism department in India is the Punjab University's department of Mass Communication Founded in 1941 in Lahore. the Department was later shifted to Chandigarh. Today there are full-fledged journalism and communication departments in as many as 26 universities. These are Punjab, Madras, Calcutta, Mysore, Nagpur, Osmania, Jabalpur, Gujarat, Poona. Ravi Shankar. Gauhati, Shivaji. Banaras Hindu, Marathwada. Bangalore, Berhampur. Punjabi, Garhwal Rajasthan Saurashtra. Aligarh Muslim, Kerala, Calicut Maharishi Dayanand. Madurai Kamaraj and North-Eastern Hill Universities These offer diploma or bachelor’s courses in journalism. Seven departments offer master’s courses too.

The National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and about a dozen agricultural universities offer courses in agricultural communication embracing the print and broadcast media. Also, a large number of private colleges of journalism have sprung up in the main cities Out of the 28 private colleges as many as 18 are branches or affiliates of the Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication and Management run by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. The Institute, established in 1961, now offers diploma courses in journalism public relations, advertising, marketing, hook publishing, printing technology and photography.

Other private colleges Include the Roman College of Journalism, Bombay College of Journalism, Siddhartha College of Mass Communication Media, Bharatiya Patrakarita Vidyapeeth, Trichur Institute of Journalism Studies. Dateline School of Journalism, ‘Vocational Training College for Women, the City Tab School of Journalism and Xaviers' Institute of Communication, Xaviers’ Institute is equipped with a sound studio, a photo laboratory, a mini theatre, closed circuit TV and other sophisticated equipment. This college produces graphic pictures and radio commercials and conducts adult literacy campaigns in slums.

Besides the formal training institutions, some major newspaper groups undertake on the-job training programmes. Among them are The Times of India. The Hindu. Indian Express The Hindustan Times and The Tribune. The oldest is the Times of India training programme. These newspaper groups have a number of dailies and magazines of different kinds on which the apprentices can work Some other newspaper publishing houses such as Eenadu Malayalam Manorama. Thanthi and Ananda Bazar Patrika also undertake training programmes for fresh recruits.

The annual intake out turn in all the journalism institutions in India is about 2,500 The University Journal departments admit about 900 students. The 18 colleges under Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan admit about 900 students Other private colleges have an intake of 300 students. The news paper groups take in no more than 100 apprentices for the job training. About the of effectiveness of journalism a leading media export observers. "The universities have not rested much recognition from media organisations. Newspaper remains indifferent to Unversity training programmes. The apprenticeship announced by university departments are largely non-functionary.