Dear Editor
I regularly visit your site and appreciate its contents. One of the links to the homepage took me to an essay, `how useful are journalism courses` by Manjula Lal, where you have lauded the syllabi of IIMC, Delhi and Asian School of Journalism but failed to mention IIMC, Dhenkanal.When you mention Indian Institute of Mass Communication(IIMC), you talk about both the IIMCs, one in Delhi and the other in Dhenkanal. How could Ms. Manjula Lal infer that it is only IIMC,
What makes IIMC, Dhenkanal different from all its counterparts all over the country? The syllabus is the latest and includes software training in QuarkXpress, Pagemaker, Photoshop and Frontpage apart from all the training required in editing and reporting. The students of this institute also get hands on training in electronic media. Apart from all these the professors give special emphasis on developmental journalism, an exclusion of which from mainstream newspapers has become a bane to the society. The students have been infused with such a spirit that they are ready to work in far flung areas of the country.
At a time when the `Agenda setting theory` of the Times of India has set glamour as its priority, the students of IIMC, Dhenkanal strive to represent unheard voices and work for the development of the country. As far as the editing and reporting skills of the students are concerned, I can bet that they can compete with the best of their friends all over their country. It is only because of the suburban locality that this IIMC has to face all the prejudices. Insiders would tell you which is the better of the two branches. I hope that you will take note of the correction and paste something on your site in this regard.
Thanking you,
Yudhajit Shankar Das
Post Graduate Diploma in Journalism(English)
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Dhenkanal
Orissa