Activities of Dept of Mass Comm

Achievements of 2007-2008

The academic year 2006-2007, will go down as a landmark year for the Department of Mass Communication with the first batch (2004-07) of students all set to pass out of the portals of St. Mary’s College.

The year 2006-07 also witnessed the inauguration of long-awaited Mass Communication lab by the Hon. Correspondent of St. Mary’s College, Mrs. Mary Arogya Reddy.
The year also brought good tidings in the form of “Most promising Radio Jockey” award to Apoorva Marur, a student of B.A. III (Mass Comm) working for Radio City 102.3 FM).
The 2004-07 batch of Mass Comm students also exhibited their artistic skills by making a short film revolving around their experiences during their three-year stint with St. Mary’s.
Abhimanyu Singh Rawat of B.A. III, earned the distinction of having qualified for the post-graduate programme in Mass Communication at the prestigious Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication, Pune, for the years 2007-2009.
Apoorva Marur and Tripti of B.A. III, have gained provisional admission into four leading Australian universities offering post-graduate programme in communication studies.
The academic year 2006-07, began for the mass commers with a field visit to the Department of Communication & Journalism, O.U. Campus on 30 June.
Mass Comm students visited the state-of-the art Television studios and Editing labs located in the historic Arts College premises.
The students were addressed by Dr. Shyam Sunder, Head, Department of Communication & Journalism, O.U. and Dr. Nageshwar, Media analyst, on the career prospects for Mass Comm graduates.
On 4 July, an Editorial team was formed comprising Venus Kumar, Rachel Vandana, Tripti, (B.A. III) to bring out the department’s bi-monthly newsletter ‘Vox Populi”.
Mr. P.V. Satya Prasad, lecturer in Mass Communication, is the Editorial Coordinator for the Newsletter.
In the second week of July, Mass Comm students were initiated to a couple of guest lectures by Ms. Surekha, Branch Manager, Eternalite advertising agency.
The topics of the guest lectures were “Role of Accounts Executive & Copy writer” in an advertising agency and “Planning an advertisement campaign from a rough sketch to the final release”.
On 26 July, Mass Comm students, Ketaki Pulijal, Prashant, Sheraz, Naila, Suha, Tripti, Rachel, Abhimanyu and Nihar Kapoor, recorded a variety programme in All-India Radio, Hyderabad. This programmed was broadcast on 6 August by AIR.
The first week of August also witnessed the release of the first issue of the newsletter, “Vox Populi”.
On 10 August, a total of 21 Mass Comm students enrolled for a course in “E-Scripting: Writing for T.V. and films”.
This course is conducted by the ECE in association with the UGC. As part of the course, the students were shown instructional CDs in our college Theatrix.
Students of this course also participated in the Live video-conferencing sessions held at the EMRC studios located in the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages campus.
In the third week of August, Dr. Padmaja Shaw, Associate Professor, O.U. delivered a guest lecture on “Writing for the broadcast media”.
Mass Commers were also treated to an insightful lecture on “Challenges in reporting for T.V.” by NDTV 24x7 reporter, Radhika Iyer.
Professor Nageshwar, Media analayst, presented a lecture on “reporting natural disasters”.
In the last week of August, Dr. Stevenson, Associate Professor & Director, EMRC, was invited to speak on “Contemporary newspapers and the challenges ahead”.
3 Sept: Dr. Padmaja Shaw, an authority on broadcast media enlightened the students on “Status of Radio and Television Broadcasting in India.
7 Sept: Students of E-Scripting course explored the “Television studios” located on the CIEFL campus and were briefed about the programmes made for UGC.
15 Oct: Mass commers visited “Radio City (102.3 F.M. station) and took part in an hour-long live programme broadcast on Radio City.
The print media was not lagging far behind either. On 11 October, Mr. Srinivas Reddy, City Editor, The Hindu, Hyderabad, spoke to the students on “Future of the print media and challenges ahead”.
24 Oct: Field visit to the office of India’s only national newspaper ‘The Hindu”.
The first week of November saw the release of the second issue of “Vox Populi”.
In November, the CEO of Perfect Relations, a leading P.R. firm in South Asia, Mr. Rajesh enlightened the students on “Role of P.R. in private sector and career prospects for P.R. students”.
In a fitting finale, mass commers rounded of their academic year 2006-07, with a five-day tour to Pune as part of which they also visited the famous Symbiosis Institute of Mass Communication campus.
The highlights of the Pune tour were captured in a short film format by B.A. II students, Koundinya, Harini and Junaid.

Activities for 2008-2009

Finalising the Editorial team for bringing out the department’s Newsletter “Vox Populi” in June.
Field visit to the Hyderabad Central University’s Department of audio-visual communication during June-end of first week of July.
Interactive session with Mass Communication Professor, P.L. Vishweshwar Rao, Prinicipal, O.U. Arts College.
Screening of national award winning feature film ‘Dor”, directed by Nagesh Kuknoor in the college “Theatrix”.
Ms. Surekha, Branch Manager, “Eternalite” advertising agency, to present two guest lectures.
The themes of the two guest lectures are: “Structure of an Advertising Agency” and “Planning an advertising campaign”.
The first week of August will witness the release of the first issue of “Vox Populi”.
A field visit to Radio Mirchi (98.3 F.M.) wil be undertaken in August.
This will be followed by a guest lecture by Miss Swapna, Chief Programme Officer, Radio Mirchi.
Field visit to All-India-Radio (AIR), Hyderabad, during which our students will take part in a Variety programme in September.
Field visit to the office of “The Times of India”, to study the functioning of a newspaper organisation.
Guest lecture by Dr. Narender, Associate Professor of Journalism, O.U. on “Editorial & Feature Writing” in October.
Release of the second issue of “Vox Populi”in October.
“Media Mania” an Inter-Collegiate fest featuring Mass Communication students planned for November.
A guest lecture on “Web Journalism & Frelance writing” by freelance reporter Sunita Chowdhury.
Field visit to the Ëducational Multi-Media Educational Research Centre, O.U. To familiarise the students on the making of educational films and documentaries. Last but not the least, will be a proposed national tour for students of Mass Communication to New Delhi