The Noticeable Boom in Broadcast Journalism

India has seen a blatant boom in media broadcasting industry since the past few decades. Broadcasting more than 300 channels worldwide, India is the 3 rd largest television market internationally. Television Journalism is definitely here to stay.

Over 300 FM Stations are already licensed and many more are queuing up. Apart from it, online journalism – the latest fad, is picking up considerably. Now news is no more restricted to the reign of ‘Doordarshan' network. There has been a considerable change in the television news networks. Some of them are:

• Faster and up-to-date coverage- With fast and accurate feedback from efficient journalists, the latest reports and happenings are quickly delivered to the news desk and it reaches the audience within minutes.
              
• Minute to minute coverage - Live telecast of latest developments in and around the country is conducted and it generally covers all hot and breaking news. Major calamities or disasters, hot political issues, sporting events, entertainment and economic bulletins are included.

These positive developments have given a boost to the media industry, whereby the job opportunities for broadcast journalism have almost trebled. With a string of channels to choose from, the employment chances are high. Both professional and amateur journalists are given fair chances according to their capabilities. Reports from top-class companies like ‘Network Media Consultants' suggest that good set of journalists are emerging rapidly and they could take broadcast journalism to even newer heights of excellence. But nowadays a lot of trash is included in the news readings just to popularize it and gain in the TRP ratings. But the public is no fool; it discerns and chooses the most authentic news channels like the CNBC, NDTV, Star News, etc.

Television Journalism: What Can It Offer?

Let's see what career opportunities television journalism has:

• You can try your luck as a scriptwriter or an editor if you have exceptional writing skills.
                 
• You can also work as a radio jockey or a television announcer. You can even compare lots of TV news programmes.
                
• You can also work for the production units as a co-producer, assistant producer, floor manager or a cameraman.

Journalists working with major news organizations like ‘Headlines Today', explain that broadcast Journalism have primarily two sections-mainly shows and news. This involves pre-production, production and post-production stages, further involving scriptwriters and producers along with researchers. In the post-production phase, anchors or TV hosts lead the show with the help of cameramen. Producers and editors further enhance or trim the whole show accordingly. There is an ever-increasing demand for journalists, thanks to numerous news channels. With the aid of modern technology, a journalist can prove to be competent enough to deliver multiple jobs efficiently i.e. a reporter may also have to double-up as a camera man when need arises. The right kind of aptitude and a pressing drive to excel is all what it needs to become a successful news reporter.

Production may not be a very alluring job section, but nevertheless it is a well-paid side of television journalism. There are basically 3 groups in production. Firstly one can work for the ticker team, secondly become a technical expert by editing the shoots visually. The last group occupies center-stage; it is the brain behind the actual telecasts. This group decides which story should be given top priorities and which programmes can be laid back. They also monitor the work of reporters and give them guidelines.

Though television journalism is a high-pressure and stressful job, the pay- packages are also the best compared to other fields in media. The stress actually adds to the excitement and motivates you to perform better and better!