DHAKA: For the last few years, the media sector has been enjoying greater public attention than it ever had experienced. The boom of private Television Channels seemingly being the reason, the youth have amassed a lot of interest about the academic discipline of Journalism along with Media Studies. Besides the public universities, a few private ones pioneered to provide the youth with the opportunity to ensure higher studies on that discipline. Perceiving the importance of quality education on that subject at university level in the present context, State University of Bangladesh (SUB) has opened its ‘Journalism, Communication and Media Studies (JCMS)’ department from May 2013. And since its establishment, JCMS has become the center of all academic and co-curricular activities of the whole university.

What JCMS is about
JCMS, short for ‘Journalism, Communication and Media Studies’, is just everything about perfection. It has an extensive theory-and-practice approach to make the students competent enough to understand the nature, grammar and utility of the relevant fields. Its aim is to ensure the students the knowledge of understanding, covering and presenting News & News Analysis for Print, Electronic and Online/New Media. Besides, it surely is about transforming the students into more active social individuals by ensuring their communication skills for regular and special needs. Besides, it makes a student media-literate that is s/he is apt enough to understand, create and utilize the contents of different media in a very fashionable manner.

In short, it is all about empowering a person with the latest and finest set of social skills.

Why JCMS?
Media is perceived as the mirror of the society, and Journalists essentially constitute the conscience of it. What a person do 24X7 is nothing but Communication; people just communicate with other people, and even with himself/herself. So, it becomes obvious to know how to communicate, that is, to know how to do the thing you do all the time!

Almost everything is becoming more and more reliant on media exposure to survive in the highly competitive world. In such a context, knowing the grammar of the media and acquiring required skills to deal with that is a must.

Why at SUB?
Journalism, Communication and Media Studies (JCMS) at the State University of Bangladesh has been designed for imparting comprehensive learning of the principles, dynamics and techniques of media, communication and journalism. Rigorous theoretical and hands-on practice in the fields of human communication, media and journalism is the basis of the program operation. The students undergoing the theory and practice of the program will be equipped with essential skills required for developing themselves as appropriate professionals in any branch of communication, media and journalism.

The program highly opts to equip the learners the most modern and inclusive education in the fields with a view to preparing themselves as the most competent professionals to meet the demands of the ever-expanding national and international print, electronic and online media market as well as in the fields of development and corporate communication.

Faculty
The core and full-time faculties of JCMS are graduates from the University of Dhaka having comprehensive knowledge on the global media arena. Having long experience in the field of communication, journalism, media, development, and having expertise with dependable set of skills, the faculties are the most-sought experts to conduct training, research and evaluation all over the country. All the faculties have authored several well-regarded books and articles on relevant fields that are being studied at several public and private universities of home and abroad as part of the course curricula.

JCMS also provides its students with the relevant experts i.e. Editors and other senior journalists from different media, Communication Experts of esteemed national and international Organizations, Writers/Authors on different fields, Filmmakers, Experts on state, politics and national security.

Student activities
JCMS has stepped at its second semester. But the students have set a unique example of being working journalists since their first day at the JCMS. They are working in different national media, and publishing a fortnightly by their own efforts. It is the outcome of tremendous efforts the students are giving with the generous support from the SUB authority that has made possible to provide a platform for their skill-tests.

A quick view to JCMS workouts
Since its outset, JCMS has been prioritizing organizing events on timely and serious national and international issues, trainings/workshops, scholarly discussion session with experts from different fields to facilitate the students with providing platforms to understand the world, and to gather handy knowledge on understanding timely issues and news management. Within the last few months after its birth, JCMS has arranged a large number of seminar, workshop, consultation meeting and special lecture sessions with persons and organizations having prominence both nationally and internationally.

This is why Journalism, Communication and Media Studies at the State University of Bangladesh (SUB) has gained eminence and reverence both inside and outside the university, and becoming a matter of more and more attraction to the people, especially the youths.

As ensuring state-of-the-art and quality education breaking the old ‘Public vs Private University’ mind-set is the motto of JCMS, it surely was to happen! JCMS has already convinced the audience that it is the trendsetter in Journalism, Communication and Media Studies.

Sajeeb Sarker, Lecturer & Coordinator; Dept. of Journalism, Communication and Media Studies (JCMS), State University of Bangladesh (SUB)

BDST: 2105 HRS, AUG 27, 2013
MMA/RIS- eic@banglanews24.com