For the last 15 years, the world has been riding a media boom that threatens to become a tidal wave, as the development of communications technology approaches warp speed in its response to demands for newer, swifter and better ways to communicate.
Along with this, digital technology is assuming ever greater importance as innovation overtakes interface in the race to make the screen in every form the first point of contact for humans across the globe.
Never has media been more exciting and never has it been more imperative that Media Institutes recognize and respond to the new ways of telling stories, getting the message out and making oneself understood as simply and as swiftly as possible.
At St. Pauls Institute of Communication Education (SPICE), Mumbai and soon, Bangalore, we understand this and have been “Riding the Wave” for the past four years. We have indeed been true to our promise to students that it is professionals that teach them what they need to know, and that we really provide a link between college and the media, advertising and public relations industries.
Consider this. We started off with short certificate courses in graphic design, video editing, film-making and digital photography, to which we swiftly added a ten-month Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism. Last year St. Pauls Institute launched a similar course in Advertising and Integrated Marketing Development. This year, the third course is being launched, in Public Relations and Corp Comm.
Since the inception of the Journalism course, students have been lace in The Times of India, NDTV India, NDTV 24/7, Star Sports, DNA, Perfect Woman, Cheers Interactive, The Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Traveltechnie.com, OING Network and Magna Publications.
The scope for internships has also been growing steadily wider, and in addition to these organisations, includes CNN-IBN and Mid-day. Our Advertising Students have already, in the course of their study, done two month internships at organisations that included FCB Draft Ula, Ogilvy & Mather, Foxymoron, Watconsult, Minority, Newclear Ideas and Yes, Yes, Why Not.
SPICE considers its USP the star lineup of faculty drawn directly from industry who enable both a close engagement between students and their projected work places, as well as a consistent ability to adapt curriculum to the latest trnds sweeping newsrooms and agencies.
Towards this end, it has also entered into a number of collaborations and partnerships in the design of its modules across courses. For instance, journalism students get a six-week immersion in television with Mahrukh Inayat and Vikram Sawant of Studio Talk, are taught reporting by experts including Bachi Karkaria, former MP and journalist Bharat Raut, and author and crime reporter Hussain Zaidi. SPICE has also engaged Social Samosa yo teach its module on social media for journalists, a first among media institutes in the country.
Similarly, Advertising students learn digital marketing from Skarma, while for the projected course in PR and Corp Comm, SPICE has tied up with SCoRe with a unique education platform that is again designed and delivered by senior PR professionals. In all three courses, the emphasis at all times is ensuring employability and skill building.
The infrastructure at SPICE is state-of-the-art, combing the most modern equipment available for teaching with well-appointed classrooms that are reflective of the 21st century and easily comparable to the best in the country.
This year promises to be significant for another reason, the collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to bring students Advanced and Certificate courses, ranging from three to six months, in Digital Marketing, Print and TV Journalism, Advertising Management, Web Design, PR and Corp Comm, Events, Advertising Copy-Writing and Videography.
