The 9.9 media group (pronounced as ‘9 dot 9′)the one behind tech magazines such as Digit and Skoar – has launched a new media school called the 9.9 School of Convergence. 9.9 group is one of the leading media houses in this particular vertical and this media college hopes to impart to its students knowledge of how to go about working in this domain. If you’re really interested in doing a course in the field of mass communication / media then it would probably be worth it even if you aren’t thinking right now about joining 9.9 School of Convergence. 9.9 SoC driven by the twin motivations of meeting the growing demand for high-quality journalistic talent as also driving for professional excellence by constantly setting new benchmarks in journalism for the media industry. The prime objective of the institution is to provide real-world education in Journalism. The School of Convergence aims to become a world-class J-school that produces top-notch journalists.It hopes to graduate students who are not only skilled at the craft of journalism,but who can rise to the demands of the changing face of the industry.
9.9 SoC is being advised by an impressive Advisory Board that comprises leading academicians and journalists from around the world:
Clive Crook, Chief Washington commentator for Financial Times; Senior Editor, The Atlantic Monthly; columnist, National Journal (formerly Deputy Editor of The Economist).
Don Durfee, Hong Kong Bureau Chief of Thomson Reuters (formerly Editor of CFO Asia and CFO China, and with the Economist Intelligence Unit).
Indrajit Gupta, Editor, Forbes India (formerly Resident Editor, Economic Times, Mumbai; National Business Editor, Times of India; Deputy Editor, Businessworld).
Prof Radha Hegde, Dept of Media, Culture and Communication & the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, New York University.
Tony Joseph, CEO, Mindworks Global Media Services (formerly Editor, Businessworld, Associate Editor, Business Standard; Features Editor, Economic Times).
9.9 School of Convergence's very first program in Applied Journalism is PG Diploma in Applied Journalism and Media Communication" aimed at building the fundamentals in terms of skills and values for the journalist of the future. The Diploma in Applied Journalism will focus on training entrants into the industry. Diploma in Applied Journalism program aims to equip aspiring journalists with the core skills required for success in their profession – high quality and consistent reporting, writing, and editing skills. Despite this being a basic core requirement of the profession, excellence is hard to find, especially when trying to compete with media products in the West, whether it is in print, online, or on TV. The program addresses this skill-gap, thereby addressing a critical need of the industry. It teaches how to build an idea into a story that has impact on the readers and viewers. Students learn the end-to-end treatment of a ‘brief’ across various formats, thus, becoming true multimedia journalists. This course is primarily taught by practicing journalists who have excelled at their craft and gained enough experience to teach the do's and dont's of the profession. In fact, the weekly modules have been received with enthusiasm by media practitioners approached by 9.9 SoC because of the high degree of practicality in the syllabus. This programme will not simply teach how to be a journalist. It will demonstrate what a journalist does to make a good story GREAT and what world-class journalists do to submit award-winning work.
Students will choose from up to six beats – industry-term for specific sectors such as politics, business, economics, sports, celebrity, and health – to follow and cover the latest news and happenings in those sectors. They will follow stories – news as well as features – on the assigned beats, and submit them for evaluation. This will ease the students gently into the world of journalism, and provide first-hand experience of how to make contacts, build a network, conduct interviews and use the collected information to write stories. The school has partnered with the Indian School of Business & Finance (ISBF) for its infrastructure. 9.9 Media is a diversified media company, Internationally-designed curriculum, based on best practices and teaching in the US and UK. Personal attention with individual mentor and writing consultants throughout the school year and into the first year of work.
