RANI CHANNAMMA UNIVERSITY, BELGAUM

DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN
JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION
UNDER THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

M.A. IN JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION

CHOICE BASED CREDIT SYSTEM

REGULATIONS
and
COURSE STRUCTURE

w.e.f

Academic Year 2016-17 and onwards

 RANI CHANNAMMA UNIVERSITY, BELGAUM
DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN JOURNALISM AND MASS
COMMUNICATION

UNDER THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Regulations for Post-Graduate Programme in journalism and mass
communication under
Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS)

w.e.f. 2016-17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.0 Course Offered: M.A. Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication

2.0 Duration:
The Course shall be of Four Semesters and each semester is of 16 weeks duration. No
student shall be permitted to obtain degree earlier than 4 semesters or to take more than 8
semesters, i.e., the student shall complete the course within four years from the date of
admission to the first semester of Post Graduate Programme. The academic session in each
semester will provide 90 teaching days.
However, the students, who discontinue the programme after one or more semesters due
to extraordinary circumstances are allowed to continue and complete the programme with due
approval from the Registrar. Candidates shall not register for any other regular course other
than Diploma and Certificate Courses during the duration of the PG programme.
3.0 Eligibility Criteria for Admission:
3.1 Candidates who possess any degree of Rani Channamma University or a Degree of any
other university recognized as equivalent thereto having at least 45% of marks in aggregate
at degree level is eligible to apply. However, relaxation of 5% of marks in respect of
SC/ST/Cat-I will be allowed as per prevailing rules of the University and Government
Orders from time to time.
3.2 The admission shall be made as per the reservation policy and directions issued in this
regard from time to time by the Government of Karnataka and also as per rules as
prescribed by the University from time to time .
4.0 Medium of Instruction:
 The medium of Instruction shall be English. However, the candidates are permitted to write
their examinations in Kannada and Marathi also.

5.0 Course Structure:

The term ‘Course’ is used to indicate a logical part of a subject matter of the programme (also
referred to as Paper). In essence, the courses are of three types:
i. Compulsory/ Core Courses
ii. Specialization/Optional/Practical courses and
iii. Open Elective Courses.
Each programme shall have a set of Compulsory Courses that a student must complete to get
the degree in the concerned subject / programme. The student shall study 4 compulsory papers.
The students shall also choose any one (1) of the Specialization / Optional Papers in all the four
semesters.
The student shall study one more compulsory/ Core paper in the 1st Semester in place of Open
Elective Course. The department shall offer one Open Elective Course in the 2nd and 3rd
semesters for students from other Departments. Students from the same department are not
allowed to opt Open Elective Course in the same department.
In the 4th semester the students shall write a field based project report/ dissertation which is
compulsory.
6.0 Minimum and Maximum Credits:
6.1 “Credit” means the unit by which the course work is measured. For this Regulation, one
Credit means one hour of teaching work or two hours of practical work per week. As
regards the marks for the courses, 1 Credit is equal to 25 marks, 2 Credits are equal to 50
marks, 3 Credits are equal to 75 marks and 4 Credits are equal to 100 marks as used in
conventional system.
6.2 All the Courses in the Department shall carry 4 credits.
6.3 A Student shall register for 24 credits in each semester.
6.4 Credit Distribution: Actual total Credits for M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication
shall be 96.

7.0 Attendance:
7.1 Each paper/course shall be taken as a unit for the purpose of calculating the attendance.
 7.2 Each student shall sign the attendance maintained for each course for every hour of teaching
of each paper. All teachers shall notify the monthly attendance of every student on the Notice
Board of the Department during 2nd week of the subsequent month.

7.3 Marks shall be awarded to the students for attendance as specified in the regulations concerning
the evaluation as shown below:
Attendance 90 and Above 80 and Above 75 75 and
(in percentage) above upto 90 And upto 80 Below
Marks 3 2 1 No Marks

7.4 A student shall be considered to have satisfied the required attendance for each course, if
he/she has attended not less than 75% of the number of instructional hours during the
semester.
7.5 There is no provision for condoning shortage of attendance.
7.6 The students who do not satisfy the prescribed requirement of attendance shall not be eligible
for the ensuing examination. Such candidates may seek admission afresh to the given
semester.
7.7 Such of the candidates who have participated in State/National level Sports, NSS, NCC,
Cultural activities and other related activities as stipulated under the existing regulations shall
be considered for giving attendance for actual number of days utilized in such activities
(including travel days) subject to the production of certificates from the relevant authorities
within two weeks after the event.
8.0 Duration of Teaching Theory Papers:
8.1 Each Theory Course covered under the compulsory category shall be taught for 4 hours per
week.
8.2 Each Theory Course covered under the Specialization category shall be taught for 4 hours per
week.
8.3 Each open Elective Paper shall be taught for 4 hours per week.
9.0 Examination:
9.1 There shall be an examination at the end of each semester.
9.2 Unless otherwise provided, there shall be semester end examination of 3 hours duration for
80 marks and internal assessment for 20 marks.
 9.3 Every student shall register for each semester end examination as per the University
notification by submitting duly completed application form through the proper channel and
shall also pay the prescribed fees.
9.4 The office of the Registrar (Evaluation) shall allot the Register Number to the candidate at
the 1st Semester end examination. That will be the Register Number of the candidate for all
the subsequent appearances and semester examinations.
9.5 The answer scripts shall be in the safe custody of the University for a maximum period of six
months from the date of announcement of the results. These shall be disposed off after six
months.
9.6 The programme under CBCS is a fully carry-over system. A candidate reappearing either the
odd or even semester examinations shall be permitted to take examinations as and when
they are conducted (even semester examination in even semester and odd semester
examination in odd semester).
9.7 Candidates who have failed, remained absent or opted for improvement in any course/s shall
appear for such course/s in the immediate two successive examinations that are conducted.
However, in the case of candidates appearing for improvement of their marks, the marks
secured in the previous examination shall be retained if the same is higher.
9.8 Candidates who desire to challenge the marks awarded to them, in the examinations, may do
so by submitting an application along with the prescribed fee to the Registrar (Evaluation)
within fifteen days from the announcement of the result.
9.9 Whenever the syllabus is revised, the candidate reappearing shall be allowed for PG Degree
examinations only according to the new syllabus.
10.0 Course Weightage:
Course Weightage would be equal to the number of credits awarded to the particular course.
For instance, if the Compulsory Course has a credit award of 4, then the appropriate
weightage for the course would be 4.
11.0 Course Evaluation :
11.1 Each course shall have two evaluation components - Internal assessment (IA) and the
Semester end examinations.
11.2 The IA component in a course shall carry 20 marks (including 3marks for attendance) and
the semester - end examination shall carry 80 marks.
 11.3 Internal Assessment (IA) marks shall be based on continuous internal assessment.
The various components of I.A. for 20 marks are as follows:
i) Attendance -- 3 Marks
ii) Test-I (announced) -- 07 Marks
iii) Test –II (announced) -- 10 Marks
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Total -- 20 Marks
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11.4 In respect of Open Elective Course (OEC) in Journalism and Mass Communication,
submission of two Home Assignments /Presentation of one seminar by each candidate shall
be compulsory for fulfillment of I.A. Component in addition to 11.3 as stated above.
11.5 Calendar of tests shall be notified in the first week of each semester.
11.6 The IA marks list shall be notified on the Department Notice Board as and when the
individual IA components are completed and the consolidated list shall be submitted to the
Office of the Registrar (Evaluation) before the commencement of semester-end
examination, or as directed by the University in this regard from time to time.
11.7 The tests shall be written in a separate sheet supplied by the Department/College which
shall be open for inspection by the students after evaluation.
11.8 There is no provision for seeking improvement of Internal Assessment marks.
11.9 There shall be one semester end examination of 3 hrs duration (for 80 marks per paper) for
each course/paper.
11.10 If a candidate remains absent for I.A. Test, there is no provision for Re-test.
11.11 In case of the Project/Dissertation, 20 marks are allotted for viva-voce test and 80 marks
are allotted for the evaluation of the dissertation/ report at the end of IV semester.
12.0 Declaration of Result:
12.1 Minimum for a pass in each paper shall be 40% of the total 100 marks including both the IA
/ Practical and the semester end examinations marks. However, candidate shall obtain at
least 40% of the marks in the Semester End Examination (i.e. 32/80). There is no minimum
in the IA / Practical marks. However, after adding the IA / Practical and the semester end
examinations marks, the candidate shall score a minimum 40% of the maximum marks for
the course/paper.
12.2 Candidates shall secure a minimum of 50% in aggregate in all courses/papers of a
programme in each semester to successfully complete the programme.
 12.3 Candidates shall earn the prescribed number of credits (i.e. 96) for the programme to qualify
for the PG Degree in Sociology.
12.4 For the purpose of announcing the results, the aggregate of the marks secured by a candidate
in all the semester examinations shall be taken into account. However, Ranks shall not be
awarded in case the candidate has not successfully completed each of the semesters in first
attempt or has not completed the programme in the stipulated time or had applied for
improvement of results.
12.5 The candidates, seeking improvement of their results shall submit an application along with
a prescribed fee to the Registrar (evaluation) and surrender the degree certificate /
provisional pass certificate/original marks cards of that semester within 15 days from the
date of announcement of the result, or as per the prevailing rules of University from time to
time.
13.0 Marks, Credit Points, Grade Points, Grades and Grade Point Average:
13.1 The grade points and the grade letters to candidates in each course shall be awarded as
follows:
Percentage of marks Grade Points Grade Letter
75 and above, up to 100.00 % 7.50 to 10.00 A
60 and above but less than 75 % 6.00 and above but less than 07.5 B
50 and above but less than 60 % 5.00 and above but less than 6.0 C
40 and above but less than 50 % 4.00 and above but less than 05.00 D
Less than 40.00 % Less than 4.00 F

13.2 Credit Point (CP): The Credit Point for each course/paper shall be calculated by
multiplying the grade point obtained by the credit of the course.
13.3 The award of Grade Point Average (GPA) for any student is based on the performance in
the whole semester. The student is awarded Grade Point Average for each semester based
on the Total Credit Points obtained and the total number of credits opted for. The GPA is
calculated by dividing the total credit points earned by the student in all the courses by the
total number of credits of those courses of the semester.
13.4 The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) shall be calculated by dividing the total
number of credit points in all the semesters by the total number of credits in all the
semesters.
 The CGPA to date shall be calculated by dividing the total number of credit points in all the
semesters to date by the total number of credits in all the semesters to date.
CGPA for the I semester =
Sum of the CP of the I semester ÷ Sum of the credits of the I semester
CGPA for the II semester =
Sum of the CP of the I sem.+ Sum of the CP of the II sem. ÷ Sum of the credits of
the I semester +II semester
CGPA for the III and IV Semesters shall be computed accordingly.
13.5 The Grade Card at each semester examination shall indicate the courses opted by the
student, the credit for the course chosen by the student, the credit points obtained in each
course, the grade letter and the grade point average. No class shall be awarded for each
semester and the same would only be awarded at the end of all the semesters based on
Cumulative Grade Point Average.
13.6 Class shall be awarded to the successful candidates based on the Cumulative Grade Point
Average (CGPA) as specified below:

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) Class to be awarded

7.5 to 10.0 First Class with Distinction
6.0 and above but below 7.5 First Class
5.0 and above but below 6.0 Second Class
Less than 5.0 Fails

14.0 Miscellaneous:

14.1 The provisions of any order, Rules or Regulations in force shall be inapplicable to the extent
of its inconsistency with these Regulations.
14.2 The University shall issue such orders, instructions, procedures and prescribe such format
as it may deem fit to implement the provisions of this Regulations.
14.3 Procedural details may be given by the University from time to time.
14.4 Any unforeseen problems/difficulties may be resolved by the Vice- Chancellor, whose
decision in the matter shall be final.
 Illustrative Model:
Grade Card
Programme :__________________
Name of the candidate: Semester : I/II/III/IV
Seat No: Month & Year:
Course Semester
Max Mark Credit
Course code Credits Grade
Marks Obtained Points
no Point
Compulsory Paper / Core
Courses
· Paper -I 04 100 60 6.00 24.00
· Paper -II 04 100 74 7.40 29.60
· Paper -III 04 100 43 4.30 17.20
· Paper -IV 04 100 52 5.20 20.80

Specialisation/Optional/Practical
Papers
Paper - V 04 100 52 5.20 26.00
*Compulsory Paper/
**Open Elective Paper/
Project Report 04 100 60 6.00 30.00
Papers- VI
Total 24 600 341 147.40

*Core paper for the I Semester

**OEC for the II and II Semester
***Project work for the IV Semester

GPA for I Semester = Total no.of CP ÷ Total no. of Credits =147.60/24.00 =6.15
CGPA for I Semester = GPA = 6.15
Calculation of CGPA for II, III and the Final Semester
________________________________________________________________________
CP (I Sem) +CP (II Sem)
CGPA for II Sem = -----------------------------------------------------
Credits (I Sem) + Credits (II Sem)

CP (I Sem) + CP(II Sem) + CP(III Sem)

CGPA for III Sem = -----------------------------------------------------
Credits (I Sem) + Credits(II Sem)+ Credits(III Sem)

CP (I Sem) + CP(II Sem) + CP(III Sem) + CP(IV Sem)

CGPA for the programme = ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Credits (I Sem) + Credits(II Sem)+ Credits(III Sem)+ Credits(IV Sem)
(*CP: Credit Points)

*********
 Department of Journalism & Mass Communication
M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication Syllabus and Course content under semester
Scheme
(As per UGC curriculum)

SCHEDULE OF PAPERS, PAPER TITLE, CREDIT HOURS & MARKS DISTRIBUTION

Semester Paper Paper Title Credit Marks IA Total
No Hours Marks Marks
I 1.1 Development of Mass Media 4 80 20 100
1.2 Reporting for Media 4 80 20 100
1.3 Editing 4 80 20 100
1.4 Multimedia and Information technology 4 80 20 100
1.5 PRACTICAL PAPER: News Writing and 4 80 20 100
Translation Exercise
1.6 PRACTICAL PAPER - Writing for Electronic 4 80 20 100
Media

Question Paper Pattern

I Semester MA Examination
Journalism and Mass Communication
Paper:

Time: 3 Hours Max. Marks: 80

Note: Answer any FIVE questions including Q. No. 8 which is compulsory.

All questions carry equal marks.
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¥Àæ±ÉßUÀ½UÀÆ ¸ÀªÀiÁ£À CAPÀUÀ¼ÀÄ.
16x4= 64
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8) Answer any FOUR of the following. 4x4= 16

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)