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A college in Kerala with links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which claims to be “India’s first JNU-affiliated journalism college”, is set to hold its first convocation on April 17.
This contradicts information on JNU’s own website, where MAGCOM is listed as a “recognised research institution”. There are seven defence institutes and 23 research institutes on the list of recognised institutes, which the website describes as such: “JNU has granted recognition and accreditation to the following prestigious institutions across the country. This has added to the true national character of the University. Representatives of these Institutions serve on various academic and statutory bodies of the JNU. Similarly, JNU faculty also participate in the academic bodies of these Institutions.”
Pandit, the JNU V-C, did not respond to calls and messages seeking a comment.
MAGCOM has as its official mentor the editor-in-chief of Kesari, an RSS-affiliated magazine launched in 1951, and functions out of Kesari Bhavan in Kerala’s Kozhikode.
College director A K Anuraj told The Indian Express that its PG Diploma in Mass Communi-cation course was granted affiliation by JNU in 2024 through a process that lasted a year.
An invitation sent out by organisers for the convocation reads, “India’s first JNU-affiliated journalism college is gearing up for a historic milestone… Our first convocation ceremony.” The batch has 14 students, of whom 12 will get their degrees at the convocation. “Our students were given JNU enrolment numbers and their degrees will be offered by JNU,” claimed Anuraj.
Kesari chief editor N R Madhu, the official mentor of MAGCOM, said the JNU V-C will grace the occasion.
Top sources at JNU however told The Indian Express, “There is no recognition or affiliation of the institute with JNU. JNU only signed an MoU for PG Diploma courses. This is only limited to academic exchanges and sharing of expertise.”
Apart from PG Diploma in Journalism, the college offers PG Diploma in Content and Technical Writing. “We plan to expand the scope by introducing a PG course in journalism,” Madhu told The Indian Express.
He said that the school was set up with an aim to develop “nationalistic journalism”. “This is a time when several anti-national elements are at play in the media, and we want to nurture nationalistic journalism,” he said.
The college is also expanding, with a studio being set up on its premises, Madhu said. “We have the scope to expand because we have 1 lakh sq ft prime property building in Kozhikode. We plan to invest Rs 1 crore into making a studio for our students,” he said.
The syllabus of the journalism school includes history of journalism in India, news and current affairs, mass communication and media laws. The school offers training in reporting for newspaper, radio, television, digital media and social media.
It also offers translation, communicative language, writing for news and features and editing skills to students. The school teaches voice modulation and body language to media students.
“Ours is a composite course which has an amalgamation of print, visual and digital communication. That’s what sets us apart, whereas most journalism schools in Kerala focus on one medium or the other,” Anuraj said.
– With inputs from Vidheesha Kuntamalla
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