Among the various mass communication and media courses in India, a popular option chosen by aspirants includes Bachelor of Mass Communication (BMC). The undergraduate mass communication course, BMC, is a three-year programme pursued across India. Mass Communication as a field involves communicating over different mediums to large groups of people. This includes newspapers, TV channels, Radio, film-making, marketing & advertising, public relations, and much more.
Mass Communication colleges in India ensure that they train the students properly in different aspects of media, public relations, mass communication, entertainment and other areas of specialisation. While there is uniformity between BMC courses, colleges have the right to include unique subjects and topics, thus, producing uniquely-skilled professionals in the field. BMC as a course is a vast topic and, thus, offers a wider range of skillsets which allows for a wider range of career opportunities for the graduates of the course.
The 3-year undergraduate course, Bachelor of Mass Communication is best suited for those who are creative, dynamic, with an aptitude to voice his/her ideas, thoughts and conclusions using different mediums of communication. Quick, critical and analytical thinking are some of the key skills one would have to develop in order to survive in the fast-paced industry. With new mediums of communication and numerous niches yet to be discovered, BMC would train the students to adapt to different environments.
Being a Mass Communication course, subjects are not just restricted to journalism-based topics, students will also be trained in the field of advertising, digital marketing, public and media relations, event management, etc. Compared to the ancient methods of journalism, these topics are fairly modern and require newer and updated skillsets, which can be gained through graduating from a BMC course.
Check out the course highlights for M.Com in India.
Level |
Undergraduate |
---|---|
Duration |
3 Years |
Annual Course Fee |
35,000 - 2,00,000 |
Average Initial Salary |
2,00,000 - 8,50,000 |
Exam Type |
Semester |
Minimum Academic Requirement |
10+2 (Any Stream) |
Minimum Aggregate Score Requirement |
50% or More |
Selection Process |
University-level Entrance or Merit-Based |
Employment Areas |
Govt/Pvt Media Houses, Publishing Houses, PR Firms, Advertising Organisations, etc. |
BMC course includes different subjects of Mass Communication. The specializations it offers help the candidates to gain knowledge on the activities and practices followed in a media house. Candidates with in-depth learning of these specializations remain much ahead in the competition of this field. Some of the well-admired BMC course specializations are mentioned below:
There are different entrance exams conducted by different colleges. Following is the list of entrance exams for undergraduate mass communication courses:
Each and every entrance test have a different exam pattern that a candidate must follow to clear the exam. Time duration also varies for each of them.
Certain skills are required in an aspirant of the Bachelor of Mass Communication course. The skills are as follows:
The different institute has a different fee structure for a BMC course. Government colleges charge lesser fees than private colleges. The BMC course fee range for government colleges from Rs. 11,659 to Rs. 1,10,000 while the private colleges charge Rs. 2.5 to Rs. 8.5 lakhs for the entire course.
Note: It is mandatory to present all original documents, mark-sheets and relevant certificate during the time of admission at the respected college or university.
For each undergraduate, postgraduate or any other higher education course, an aspirant needs to go through a selection or admission process. The Bachelor of Mass Communication (BMC) admission process can be completed in one of two popular methods, namely, entrance-based admission processes or merit-based admission process. Check out the different admission processes for Bachelor of Mass Communication courses in India.
Commonly opted by many educational institutions in India, entrance-based admissions to BMC course requires candidates to appear for an entrance test, which, for BMC, will be conducted by each college offering the course.
After attempting the entrance test, the college/university concerned will release the results and subsequently, publish the merit lists containing the names of all qualified candidates with their scores and ranks.
Each college will then request the candidates to participate in the respective selection process, as outlined by the concerned educational institution.
The selection processes may require candidates to sit through a Personal Interview and/or Group Discussion.
Based on their performance in the entrance test and the personal interview and/or group discussion, the candidates will be shortlisted for admissions the course.
Here, candidates will be asked to apply to the course and submit the respective documents proving their eligibility to the course.
After the document verification process, candidates may be called for a Personal Interview and/or Group Discussion, as defined by the respective colleges.
Depending on the candidate’s previous academic track record and their performance in the personal interview and/or group discussion, colleges/universities will select the prospective students for the course.
A counselling-based selection process is common under both entrance-based and merit-based admission processes. This method of selection is also commonly opted by Universities with numerous affiliated or constituent institutions.
The respective institutions will release the appropriate merit lists containing the names of the candidates with their ranks/scores.
Depending on their ranks/score mentioned in the merit lists, candidates will be called to participate in the counselling process.
The counselling process will require shortlisted candidates to choose the college and course of their choice.
As per the preferred choice of course & college and with the candidate’s ranks/score along with the vacancy in the respective seats, candidates will be offered admission to the course.
Note: Each college or educational institution will define its admission process as per its requirements. Therefore, it is advisable to go through the selection process of the respective college prior to applying for admissions.
First Year:
Human Communication |
English 1 |
Basic Communication Skills |
---|---|---|
Basic Writing Skills |
Hindi 1 |
Mass Communication Skills |
Computer Application |
Creative Writing |
Language Proficiency |
Second Year:
Reporting & Editing |
Social Science 1 |
Production Portfolio 1 |
---|---|---|
News Production |
Social Science 2 |
Advanced Mass Communication 2 |
Third Year:
Design & Graphics |
Public Relation |
Production Portfolio 2 |
---|---|---|
Photojournalism |
Corporate Communication |
Advance Reporting & Editing |
Advertising |
Media Issues |
Indian Government & International Relations |
Mass Communication as a field to pursue one's career path is one of the more difficult but rewarding fields. There are various job profiles that can be pursued by a BMC graduate, in various industries globally. The 21st century has become a digital world, where most of the consumers of mass media approach the Internet to access information. With this entirely new platform, media, public relations, advertising and other fields have completely changed the ways they approach consumers. However, there is a lack of skilled and qualified professionals, capable of meeting the industry requirements.
Graduating from a Bachelor of Mass Communication course will train you to fill in the vacant positions in media organisation and various other industries. With a wide variety of job profiles, the aspirants will be able to pursue the career path of the interest and liking. Check out some of the different job profiles on offer as well as the different areas of employment in India for BMC graduates.
Pursuing a career path in one of the aforementioned job profiles can fetch you a lucrative annual package, which, also depends on various other factors. Depending on the job profile, area of employment, type of company or organisation, etc, the annual package for BMC graduate may range between ?2,00,000 - ?8,50,000. Since graduates have also been trained in the field of advertising and public relations, the annual salary packages may also be higher.
With proper skills and experience gained through years of working in the industry would allow for better packages and job profiles. However, if you wish to improve your career opportunities, you may also be able to pursue higher education after graduating from a BMC course. Here is a list of courses one can pursue after graduating from a Bachelor of Mass Communication programme:
These are just a few of the courses one can pursue after graduating from BMC if they wish to improve their career opportunities. The additional academic qualifications would allow for a better annual package and a better job profile as well. One can also look into changing the discipline such as in the case of pursuing MBA/PGDM or law, wherein the candidates will further be able to open up more career opportunities.
Columnist- The job of a Columnist is to write and edit some opinion-based pieces in the feature section of the newspaper. They select the topics of the write-ups depending on the public interest.
Multimedia and Web Writer- A web writer or multimedia writer prepares content for blogs, product descriptions, company websites etc. The key role of this profession is to support the marketing team by providing required content so that they can easily reach the target audience.
Proof Reader- People engaged in this profession proofread the errors, rectify them and improve the content to make it more readable.
Photo Journalist- The key areas of work are print media houses, telecasts, and webcasts. These professionals capture photos and prepare film video segments to present newsworthy events and matters to the audience.
Public Relations Manager- To develop marketing communications, a Public Relation Manager coordinates with people, develops media relations, and engages in different activities based on public relations.
Radio jockey- Entertaining audiences by anchoring musical programmes, and interviews are the chief job responsibility of a radio jockey.
Social Media Specialist- Creating engaging content to build up social media influence for a particular product, service or company is the job role of a social media specialist. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the platforms where a professional in this field administers content and grab the attention of the target audience.
News Reporter- A News Reporter reports updates on current happenings and delivers authentic information directly from the place of occurrence. It is a very promising and competitive job profile and over the years a large number of students are coming into this profession.
News Anchor- Gathering information on current happenings and broadcasting them on news channels are the key job roles one has to perform as a news anchor. The focus of this professional remains on presenting the information in an interesting manner.
Bachelor of Mass Communication offers different career options to successful candidates. Candidates with good scores in BMC are always desirable by reputed employers. Check out some of the top recruiting companies here:
Times Group
Hindustan Times
Zee Network
Star Network
Times of India
All India Radio
NDTV
Indian Express
Outlook
Star India
Balazi Telefilms etc.
Candidates after completing BMC course can join any of the companies based on their specializations, interest areas, and skills. The salaries they will get depend on the skills and experiences they possess. Salaries of some of the job profiles are listed below:
Job Profiles |
Annual Average Salary |
---|---|
Public Relation Officer |
Rs. 230,184 |
Radio Jockey |
Rs. 304,056 |
Feature Writer |
Rs. 370,224 |
News Reporter |
Rs. 341,508 |
Web Writer |
Rs. 277,668 |
Photo Journalist |
Rs. 503, 705 |
Proof Reader |
Rs. 312,500 |
News Anchor |
Rs. 445,000 |
Social Media Specialist |
Rs. 400,000 |
There are two routes for a graduate of Bachelor of Mass Communication. The first option is to enter professional life with the procured knowledge and skills and the second one is to pursue higher studies to expand the horizon of learning. There are plenty of scopes in both fields. Whether it’s industry or higher studies, with the right skills and knowledge, anyone can flourish in their path.