Manorama School of Communication

Mr. Ravi Shankar is the Director at Manorama School of Communication. He has nearly thirty years of experience working in the area of non-fiction television. Besides his stints as TV journalist and producer, he has also trained professionals and run media courses at the postgraduate level. Having a penchant for the same, he shares his valuable advice to the students through his interview. Read here what he has to say.

What is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

“It is the participation of every individual that helps a leader makes right decisions”

I believe in leading from the front. I am a hands-on person and am very involved with every activity of the institute, from teaching to administration to writing emails. I have been lucky in having a team which is innovative and supports me with original ideas and suggestions at every step. I do believe in taking those suggestions and trying to implement the good ones. I think teamwork is our biggest strength. 

How does the curriculum of Manorama School of Communication ensure the best industry practices?

“Our faculty trains the students to be prepared to join the industry when time arrives”

Most of our faculty members are media professionals. They know the requirements of the professional world. Constant interactions with media organisations also ensure that we know the changing needs of media companies. For instance, more and more media organisations have started using the smartphone as a tool to gather news. One should not only know how to tweet but also use the phone’s camera to cover and broadcast live events and news. 

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What do you think your roles and responsibilities to the institute and the students are? 

“The students should be prepared to adapt their skills as the dynamic media world changes”

As far as a media institute goes, the responsibility is to try and train students to be job-ready from day one. Even as we keep innovating our training modules, we also encourage them to be observant to changes that happen in the media world. Students, in my opinion, should always remember the purpose behind attending the course. They should regularly ask themselves if they are moving in the right direction to achieve their goal. 

How do you ensure that students are aligned with the current trends of the industry? 

“We ensure that our students are well-versed and technology driven”

There is a significant impact of technology on the news. Yet, the core skills required for being a journalist have remained the same. MASCOM aims to train future journalists who not only have skill sets needed are also on top of the technical skills required. We also teach our students to adapt to the changes that will take place in the years to come. In short, MASCOM’s priority has always been to train tomorrow’s journalist. In the years to come, the focus will remain the same.

What would you like people to know about your institute they may not know?

“We provide every relevant opportunity to students to make a fulfilling stay at our institute”

The institute not only boasts of trained professionals as teachers but also has adequate infrastructure to administer the best training possible. Every student has an individual workstation connected to broadband, and the institute also has the infrastructure to produce a full-fledged news bulletin. Besides these bulletins, the students also make documentary films, studio programmes etc. during the course. The weekly lab paper gets printed in a tabloid form in Manorama’s printing press. Students also get the opportunity to go on a couple of study tours and interview ministers and other dignitaries. 

What are some of the biggest challenges for education in general and for Manorama School of Communication specifically?

“We have adapted the trends to teach courses innovatively”

The pandemic has disturbed the education sector in a significant way. At the same time, the silver lining is the use of internet-based education. Once the pandemic is over, the system set-up now will be useful for regular classes as well in the future. Our new session is starting in October, and then the classes will be held online, initially. MASCOM’s faculty members have already upgraded their skills to teach online. Further, we have curated courses to serve the purpose. The other challenge is the dynamic nature of the field. We will need to keep innovating the syllabus to adjust to the changes in the media world. 

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Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

“In these testing times, students should stay motivated to learn as much as possible” 

Students should broad-base their skill sets and be ready to improve and augment their skills to remain relevant. The batch which graduated this year has managed to find opportunities in the various areas of communication—ranging from Television News, news agencies to Public relations and content writing. That, in my opinion, is the need of the hour. Students should be able to adapt to what is required by the industry.