CAREER IN PHOTOJOURNALISM

The primary duty of the photojournalist is to take pictures. They are responsible for providing clear, easy-to-read, high quality, truthful images, that communicate a meaningful message to the readers of the publication they work for.
Most newspapers also give the photographer other duties such as developing their film, editing film, scanning their pictures in the computer, adjusting the tone and colour of the pictures.

Salaries for photojournalists vary depending on the location, size and type of the publication, experience of the photographer.

Eligibility Criteria

In India there is no institution or university specifically offering degree or diploma course in photojournalism. The course is offered through different programmes of journalism & mass communication, art & craft, film and television and advanced information technologies. This education is recognized as professional education, usually referred to by different nomen-clatures, viz., photo editing, layout and design, fundamentals of photography, electronic editing, advanced photography, digital imaging, fundamentals of digital technology, basic and advanced photojournalism, film editing, fundamental principles and practices on videography, moving and still photography, etc. depending on the emphasis on different aspects of photo-journalism.

Graduates from any stream can join the above courses offered by various universities and media institutes. Almost all institutions and universities prefer to take the candidates through written and personality-test (interview) exami-nations due to limited seats.
Institutions Offering Courses on Journalism and Photography

l Amity School of Journalism & Communication, Saket, New Delhi-110024.
l Amrit College, Railway Colony, Poojappura, Trivandrum-695012.
l Asian College of Journalism, Kasturi Centre, 2-Anna Salai, Chennai-2.
l Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan units at Trivandrum, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kochi, Kozhikode and other cities of India.
l Bhavan's Institute of Communi-cation & Management, Andheri West, Mumbai-400058
l Bhavan's PDN College of Communication and Manage-ment, Somani College, Chowpatty, Mumbai-400007.
l Biju Patnaik Film & Television Institute, Bhubaneswar.
l Centre for Convergence Media Studies (Kerala University), Senate House campus, Trivandrum-695034.
l Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, Chitranjali Studio Complex, Thiruvallom, Trivandrum-695027.
l DCSMAT Media School, Kinfra Film and Video Park, Kazhakkoottam, Trivandrum.
l Film & Television Institute of India, Pune.
l Garware Institute of Career Education & Develop-ment, Vidyanagri, Kalina Campus, Santa Cruz (East) Mumbai-400098
l IILM Film & Media School, 3 institutional area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
l Indian Centre for Media and Communication, Agrasen Campus, S. No. 239/2, Yera-wada, Pune-411 006.
l Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, JNU Campus, New Delhi-110067.
l Indian Television Training Institute, C-41 Gulmohar Park, New Delhi 110049.
l Institute for Integrated Learning in Management, Lodhi Institu-tional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003
l Jaipuria Institute, Lucknow and Noida.
l Manipal Institute of Communi-cation, Old Tile Factory Road, Press Corner, Manipal-576104.
l Mother Teresa Institute of Communication and E-journalism, TC 16/138 EVRA-29, Cotton Hill, Trivandrum-695014
l Pioneer Media School, 6, Toder Mal lane, Bengali Market, New Delhi-110001.
l Ranade Institute, Fergusson College Road, Pune-411004
l School of Convergence, 208 A, Savitri Nagar, New Delhi-110017.
l Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute, EM Bypass Road, Kolkata
l The Manorama School of Communication, P. B. No. 229, Kottayam-686001.
l Rai Media Lab, B-II/58, MCIE, Mathura Road, New Delhi-110044.
l School of Broadcasting and Communication, 108, Building, 4, Kamdhenu Center, Lokhand-wala Complex, Andheri (West), Mumbai-400053.
l School of Communication and Management Studies, Manage-ment House, South Kalama-ssery, Kochi-682033.
l Sri Aurobindo Institute of Mass Communication, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Near IIT, New
Delhi-110016.
l St Xavier's Institute of Communication, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai-400001.
l Times Centre for Media Studies, 10-Daryaganj, New Delhi-110023.
l National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training, A-2, Sector-1, Vaishali, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201012.
l Symbiosis Institute of Communication, Pune-411004.
l YMCA,Jai Singh Road, New Delhi.
(The author is Course Coordinator in Journalism & Mass Communication, IGNOU, Puri, Orissa.)

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