Vinusha Kannan is the head of the department of Psychology. Vinusha has a Master's Degree in Applied Psychology. She also has a Post Graduate Diploma in Guidance & Counselling, and Teaching and Learning. She is University Grants Commission (UGC) National Eligibility Test (NET) qualified in Psychology. She is currently pursuing her PhD in the area of positive social psychology. Her research focus is on the area of student well-being. Her research interest is to develop a framework to identify students at risk of mental health issues and develop an intervention to safeguard them.

Vinusha has an MBA degree in Human Resource Management. She serves as the Principal of NSoJ's Liberal Arts degree programmes. Vinusha is the convener of NSoJ's academic partnerships and works with international, national, regional and local organizations to strengthen NSoJ's mission to train a generation of journalists committed to truth, justice and democracy in India. She also serves as the secretary of the governing council of NSoJ. Vinusha is part of the faculty leadership team at NSoJ that is responsible for curriculum development and design.

National School of Journalism

Being the Principal of the college, what is your philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?

"A leader should inspire others by setting a good example. In addition to encouraging and fostering diverse perspectives, I value a supportive and open community"

Having trained in human behaviour, Psychology gives me the ability to understand people, including staff members and students, and allow self-expression in a way that helps them excel academically and personally.

The education systems in India and other foreign countries are structured very differently. In your experience, what can an inbound student gain from studying here in your institute?

The education system in India is indeed different from other countries. At NSoJ, we focus on bridging the gap between the two. At the National School of Journalism, we focus on giving students the best possible platform to begin a successful career in the industry by equipping our students with the skills to shape the future of journalism in India. We provide a versatile and world-class faculty of leading reporters, columnists, editors, authors, academics, filmmakers, and digital media specialists who are deeply committed to training, challenging and supporting their students.

How does the curriculum of NSoJ ensure the industry's best practices?

Our programmes are structured to suit the needs of the media industry. At the same time, we factor in developments that are expected to revolutionise the media industry in the next ten years. Our environment is designed to allow students to leave the campus and be ready to face new challenges in the industry. With all its energy and quick reaction time, the buzz of a newsroom will envelop NSoJ students, making them a part of the fourth pillar of democracy the moment they join us. 

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

We offer the Truth and Justice Scholarship, which covers total tuition fees for students entering a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate programme of study at the National School of Journalism and Public Discourse, Bengaluru (NSoJ). The scholarship supports exceptional young people from financially difficult backgrounds who will stand for truth and justice. NSoJ is highly selective of its students. We pick the brightest and the best to be part of our class. Passionate students from diverse backgrounds bring with them an energy that helps the growth of the entire class. 

What should be the College’s top priority over the next ten years?

Colleges should focus more on imparting values and skills that can prepare them for their career. In today’s time, where everyone has access to enormous amounts of information due to digital technology, colleges and universities should not focus on memorisation; rather, applying the concepts and utilising them to fulfil their goals should be a priority. 

What would you like people to know about your College they may not know?

"We are a boutique college catering to the specific needs of today’s society"

We are a not-for-profit college with a mission to train select young people committed to truth, justice and democracy. Our managing trustee, Mr Timothy Franklyn, believes disinformation threatens democracy and society. Thus, NSoJ stands to train a new generation of professionals who stand for truth, justice and democracy. We are grateful to President Barack Obama, who mentioned our Managing Trustee and the National School of Journalism in his commencement speech at Stanford University for what we stand for as an institution. 

Our students were selected for exchange programmes in American Universities. The programme fully sponsored by the US State Department allowed our students to spend one semester on campus. 

Since 2018, our undergraduate students have produced exemplary results in all subjects in the university semester examinations.

Since 2016, our students have been placed in national and global media houses including Reuters, Times of India, Hindu Sports Star, Deccan Herald, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, Republic TV, NDTV, CNBC, Times Now and many more.

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What do you see as NSoJ's greatest strengths?

National School of Journalism (NSoJ) is a highly selective J-school that identifies and trains India's best journalistic talents. Our newsroom-focused curriculum, in-house digital news portal, expert faculty members and unparalleled industry connections prepare our students for successful careers in broadcast, print and convergence journalism. We invite you to join us and be the generation that transforms India's news media industry. Our purpose is to transform the news media industry in India by training students every year- the brightest and best in journalistic talent—to become accomplished professional journalists. NSoJ prepares them to pursue truth in a less-than-perfect world, recognise the broader contexts in which issues are framed and communicate this to the public responsibly, balanced and fairly. We hope to create in our students a generation of journalists with the tools and perspectives to act as agents of change in the news media industry in India.

Our programmes are designed to provide our students with the right platform and skills to succeed and shape the future of public discourse in India. Our faculty includes leading reporters, columnists, editors, authors, academics, magazine editors, documentary filmmakers, and digital media specialists who are deeply committed to training, challenging and supporting their students.

We strongly encourage diversity in thought, culture, language, geography, gender, religion, academic and extracurricular interest, family circumstance, socio-economic background and more.

How do you make your student's industry ready?

At the National School of Journalism, we train our students to make them passionate, responsible and ethical journalists. The industry recognises our students to be part of their organisation for the skills and knowledge they acquire through their programme. With excellent connections within the industry, we provide our students with ample career opportunities so that they hit the ground running. Over the years, we have monitored our students' development and progress. Through the opportunities of mentorship of senior journalists, our students develop a professional attitude, technical skills, knowledge and a database of skills. This helps them to choose their employer during placements confidently.

NSoJ, in addition to the university-prescribed curriculum, offers various professional skill courses, international workshops, internships and research opportunities to equip the students to be industry-ready professionals.

Our postgraduate students undergo rigorous training right from the inception of the course with daily field visits, ground reporting, public discourse & communication seminars. The students bring out the in-house news magazine ‘NSoJ Post’ every fortnight under the guidance of faculty and mentors. As part of their final assessment, the students are required to produce a Capstone Project comprising a short film, podcast and a 3000-word detailed report on any chosen topic based on their interest.