First University in Northeast to Bring Live Newsroom Training into Classrooms

GUWAHATI: The Royal School of Communication and Media (RSCOM) at The Assam Royal Global University (RGU) has launched the UNI News Agency Service, marking a first-of-its-kind initiative by a university in Northeast India to provide students with real-world newsroom exposure as part of their academic training.

The programme is designed to familiarise journalism students with professional newsroom workflows, including accessing live news agency feeds, downloading breaking news, editing copy, writing headlines, and packaging content for print and broadcast platforms. By integrating real-time news processing into the curriculum, the initiative aims to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry practice.

Welcoming the initiative, Prof. P. J. Baruah said the service is intended to simulate a working newsroom environment for students. “The introduction of the UNI News Agency Service, the first of its kind in any University of the North East, is aimed at giving our students a hands-on experience on downloading the latest news in their computers—just like in a newsroom in a newspaper or a television satellite channel—edit the news, give headlines, and place it in a news page or TV news bulletin,” he said, adding that the long-term objective is to develop RSCOM into a regional hub for media education, comparable to leading institutions such as Symbiosis and Jamia Millia.

Vice Chancellor Prof. A. K. Buragohain said the initiative would help students develop industry-ready skills and confidence. “We believe the familiarity and expertise of News Agency Service will instil in our students the confidence and expertise to face the job demands of the media industry after they pass out from our University. A Mass Comm degree from RSCOM will carry the weight of theory along with practical expertise of processing news and related work in real time,” he said.

Speaking on the broader concept of news and its evolution, senior journalist Manish Goswami traced the roots of news reporting to the Mahabharata, citing Sanjay’s reporting of the Kurukshetra war to King Dhritarashtra. He underlined the continuing relevance of news agencies and the dependence of newspapers and broadcasters on agency feeds for comprehensive coverage.

PTI Bureau Chief Durba Ghosh described the launch as a milestone for journalism education in the region. “The launch of the News Agency Service at RGU is a landmark step,” she said, explaining how news agency journalism functions and outlining key learning areas for aspiring journalists.

Alongside the launch, RSCOM also inaugurated its biannual journal Royal Herald, a student-driven publication documenting academic and media-related activities at the university. The journal is intended as an additional training platform for reporting, editing, photography, headline writing, and page design.

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