Hisar: Guru Jambeshwar Science and Technology University (GJSTU), Hisar, has launched a course in defence journalism. The course was inaugurated by the Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor at the Department Of Mass Communication. Apart from that the university also claimed to be the second university in the world after the Boston University in the US to start such a course.
General Kapoor, the army chief, said there were very few journalists with the skills, knowledge and experience required to report on defence and national security issues. Moreover, dissimilar types of international conflicts in many countries continue to occur at an alarming rate. News organisations wanted journalists trained in the complex areas comprising defence and national security in order to keep the public informed.
Lt Gen. Devinder Dayal Singh Sandhu, a retired senior army officer, and also the Vice-Chancellor of GJSTU, said that the curriculum of the course has been designed with the purpose of preparing journalists to report and write competently on military affairs, national security issues and strategic problems. The course, besides providing knowledge about the army hierarchy, would also highlight military functioning. He further mentioned war coverage is also one of the most successful branches of journalism. Newspaper sales increase greatly in wartime and television news ratings go up. Moreover, war reporters are often found to enjoy the star status.
