Mr. N.R Mohanty is working as the Director of Jagran Institute of Management and Mass Communication, Noida, Uttar Pradesh. He has done MA, M. Phil and PhD as part of his academics. And prior to Jagran Institute, he has worked as an Assistant Editor with Times of India ( Delhi), as a Resident Editor with Hindustan Times (Patna) and as an Editor in Concept, Planning and Research with India TV at Noida. 

JIMMC Noida

You have held key positions at education institutes throughout your professional career. What are the key factors that keep you connected with the education sector?

I was a professional journalist for over two decades; I had a long stint with the Times of India and Hindustan Times, and a shorter duration engagement with India TV. I have been serving as the Director of the Jagran Institute of Management & Mass Communication, Noida for the last 13 years. My association with the education sector gives me enormous satisfaction for the simple reason that we, at JIMMC, prepare some of the finest candidates for the media industry. Our promise to our students is that we will produce first-rate journalists and media professionals. It has been a challenging task to live up to that promise. But, year after year, we have succeeded in giving 100 per cent placement for all those students who have maintained 80 per cent attendance. I am happy to see that our alumni (our first batch passed out in 2005) are holding top positions across the disciplines in the media industry. That is the biggest satisfaction of being in the education sector.

Being the director of JIMMC, what is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

As the Leader of the Institute, I have to walk the talk. I need to practice what I ask others to do: to be punctual, to maintain discipline. My overriding focus is to impart quality education, both theoretical and practical. We have the most competent faculty, drawn from the media industry. They train our students to deliver quality content at great speed. My effort is also to ensure that our students just not become technically adept and theoretically sound; we take all steps to ensure that they develop a rounded personality. Our debate, quiz, theatre, music and sports clubs give an opportunity to all our students to hone their extra-curricular skills. Overall, our students make us proud.

Any insights into how your college could be more welcoming to students of different races or economic backgrounds?

The mandate from our top management is clear: we must provide the best possible education to the most deserving students on a no-profit basis. That is why our fees, compared to that of the other media-training institutions in Delhi\ NCR, are considerably lower, while our curriculum and the training pattern can be compared to the best media institutions anywhere in the country. Our management is sensitive enough to provide scholarships to good students hailing from relatively less privileged backgrounds. 

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How does the curriculum of JIMMC ensure the best practice of industry?

Our curriculum is mostly practical-driven; we teach theory papers as per the degree requirements, but we understand that placement in the media industry can be had largely on the strength of the practical skills. That is why we start imparting practical training from the outset, along with theoretical study. We believe that a student becomes hundred per cent ready for the industry only when s\he is able to deliver quality output at great speed. Speed and Quality are the buzzwords in the media industry. A student can attain excellence in both by continuous and rigorous practice. Saturday Presentations -- print specialization students bring out a weekly newspaper, TV specialization students prepare a weekly news bulletin, Advertising Specialization students present a weekly media campaign every Saturday -- are a hallmark of our Institute. We invite our alumni (we are an 18-year-old Institute and our ex-students are holding senior positions across the media fields in the country) to judge the presentations, tell the current students what they did well and where they went wrong. Our strong alumni connection helps us to place our students in the leading media houses. This enormously successful practice was somewhat disrupted during the last two years because of the pandemic and, consequently, due to mostly online classes. From the 2022 session, we will resume this highly popular experiment in earnest.

When you first came to JIMMC, what was your vision for the university? Has it evolved over time, and how far along in implementing that vision are you?

I became the director of the Institute in 2009. I had a long stint with the English print media (I worked with the Times of India and Hindustan Times) and worked for a shorter duration for a TV channel (India TV). When I joined the Institute and interacted with the students, I realized that a majority of students harbor an aspiration to work for the TV industry (in fact, an overwhelming majority of them, both boys and girls, had one ambition -- to become a TV anchor). That is why, a major chunk of my attention was focused on making our students ready for selection for the top TV channels. That did not mean we neglected students opting for the print or advertising industry. As a matter fact, our students excelled in both Hindi and English print journalism; quite a few did exceedingly well in the advertising industry as well. The digital platform today requires students to be able to multitask; our focus has, therefore, shifted to training all our students in different media skills, before they embark upon a specific specialization. Our students today are the mainstay of our official YouTube channel, contributing videos, stills, texts and doing PTC (Piece to Camera), video editing, anchoring and voice-overs. We are ambitious to scale up this venture in the next couple of years and create a popular, monetized channel financially sound enough to pay professional salary to our ex-students, willing to work for it. 

What do you see as college’s greatest strengths?

The biggest strength of the JIMMC, Noida is its placement history. The Institute has provided, since its inception in 2004, guaranteed placement to any student who has maintained 80 per cent attendance throughout the course. Institute had a great placement season last year and some of the major recruiters in the institute were Dainik Jagran, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express Aaj Tak Zee TV, NDTV 24*7, NDTV India and Times Now. The Institute also inculcates a spirit of entrepreneurship in our students and some of our students are doing exceedingly well as the founders of immensely successful YouTube channels, advertising agencies and digital platforms.

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Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?

My advice for the young aspirants who are looking for a prosperous career ahead would be as follows-

  • First, to never settle for mediocrity.
  • Second, to aspire for the highest professional standards.
  • Third, to always keep in mind the interests of the lowest rung of the society in wherever you go and whatever you do.