Declining by Degrees: The Effect of Corporatisation on Media Education

Abstract

The proliferation of Journalism and Mass communication programs in both the University system and outside of it is significant. While the FTII (Film and Television Institute of India), AJKMCRC (AJK Mass Communication Research Centre), IIMC (Indian Institute of Mass Communication), TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) still remain the most popular, well sought for govt run institutes, there are many other private colleges and universities like GD Goenka, KR Mangalam, Chitkara and Noida International University that have come up and are offering various programs in media studies and even the doctorate degree in Journalism and Mass communication. Not only this, several media houses including NDTV and TV Today offer the diplomas and certificate programs in media studies with a 100% guarantee of placements. The present paper proposes to discuss the impact of corporatisation on the status of media education and research practices in India. This question regarding corporatisation merits serious attention since the purpose of higher education is the creation of knowledge, and the corporatized university spaces start with the assumption of ‘students as the consumers’ whose demands of study material and academic grades should be fulfilled since they have paid the requisite fee. Even the assessment of the faculty’s performance is done on the basis of students’ feedback which may or may not reflect the credentials of a faculty. Through this paper, the researchers explore the manifestations of the corporatisation process in casualization of the academic professionals, the repercussions of corporate management styles and practices on university governance, curriculum decisions and academic freedom and the impact of corporate and commercial influences on academic research and the creation of knowledge society.