Faculties

V K Jotheendra Kumar comes to MASCOM with a Master’s Degree in Journalism with First Class from the University of Kerala, a postgraduate 
diploma in journalism and with many years of practical work experience in both print and television journalism and in teaching journalism at the university level.

Prof. Jotheendra Kumar worked for eight years as news editor for the Kerala Pathrika, a Thiruvananthapuram daily. He also worked for five years in 
the News Division of Doordarshan Kendra, Thiruvananthapuram, before joining the faculty of the Department of Communication and Journalism of the University of Kerala in 1989.

During his career at the university of Kerala, has served as a resource person for the State Council for Education Research and Training in Thiruvananthapuram and on academic bodies of Kerala, Calicut and Kannur universities. Jotheendrakumar was also a member of the guest faculty at the Kerala Institute of Rural Development and C-DIT (Centre for Developing Imaging Technology).

Prof. Jotheendra Kumar, who is a native of   Thiruvananthapuram, joined the MASCOM faculty in June 2008.


Srinivasa Prasad has been a professional journalist with India’s leading newspapers for 28 years. He worked as a reporter for several publications before he became the Chief of Political Bureau for the Times of India in 1994, Chief of Times of India News Service (South)in 2000 and Chief of Bureau (South) for the Hindustan Times in 2001. He also extensively covered the southern states for Associated Press for seven years. His last job was that of Senior Editor with DNA in Mumbai with the responsibility of coordinating the paper’s national and international correspondents and commissioning stories.

Prof. Prasad was part of the core team that re-launched the Bangalore edition of The Times of India in 1995. He wrote True Lies, a weekly satire column in the paper for six years. Among the many investigative stories he did was one in which he posed as HIV+ and investigated quacks in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He bought “medcines” from them as a cure for AIDS, but on testing at the Indian Institute of Science, they proved to contain only steroids. Another story on “cradle babies” in Tamil Nadu, which he did for Associated Press, received worldwide attention in 1993. He joined the Mascom faculty in September 2010

Visitors

Eminent visitors to MASCOM during this academic year included former Supreme Court Justice K.T. Thomas; Krishna Anand, Information Officer at the US Consulate General, Chennai; Professor Emeritus and Economist Mathew Kurian; M. Maharajan, Head of the School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies at Mahatma Gandhi University; K.M. Seethi, M.G. University Political Scientist; Agricultural Scientists K.G. Padma Kumar and R. Gopimoni; Environmental Scientists Punnen Kurian Venkadeth and Jomy Augustine; Sheeba Pillai, lecturer in School of Legal Thought, M.G. University; Women’s rights advocate Sindhu Gopalakrishnan; Child rights specialist Sister Betsy of BCM College; Right to Information Commissioner V.V. Giri; Marine Scientist and member of the Indian Research Station in Antarctica K.J. Mathew; Nuclear Scientist George Samuel; K.P. Joy of the State Pollution Control Board; Retired Prof. P.K. Thampi of the Centre for Earth Science Studies; Retired CRPF Inspector General George C. Podippara; former head of the Film and Television Institute of India John Sankaramangalam; Deputy Editor of Business Line, Vinay Kamath; Executive Editor of Business Today Josey John; Vivian Fernandes, Editor - Special Features, Network 18; MM TV Director of News Johny Lukose; Executive Editor of Kerala Kaumudi B.C. Joji; Director of the Media Centre George Sebastian and Australian Broadcasting Corporation producer Tony Chapman.