Dr Savyasaachi Jain
Senior Lecturer Journalism and Documentary
School of Journalism, Media and Culture
- jains23@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2251 0782
- Two Central Square, Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1FS
Overview
I am a Senior Lecturer in JOMEC, specialising in journalism and documentary.
My academic and pedagogic interests include journalistic practices and standards, the conceptual skills that underlie high quality journalism, international journalism and global media systems. In these areas, I draw upon my practitioner experience of covering - and training journalists and filmmakers from across the developing world in the coverage of - politics, elections, conflict, terrorism, migration, the environment and health.
I teach on the MA International Journalism and MA Digital Documentary programmes where, among other things, I guide students in developing strong journalism projects for their Master's dissertations. I also deliver a well-recived foundational course for first year undergraduates.
Biography
I bring to my teaching extensive international experience as a print and television journalist, documentary filmmaker and journalism trainer, having worked in India, US and other international locations and having conducted workshops for professional journalists in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Turkmenistan, UK and Vietnam.
I've been a consultant and trainer for international organisations such as the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development, Arab States Broadcasting Union, Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, UNDP, UNESCO and UNICEF. As Asia Projects Coordinator for the international media development organisations, The Thomson Foundation, I concpetualised, initiated and led large international media development projects, including 'The EU-India Documentary Initiative on Diversity and Conflict Transformation', 'The EU-India Media Initiative on HIV/AIDS' and 'Leveraging International Networks for Co-productions and Training' (the aggreagate budget for these three projects was in excess of EUR 1.35 million). As part of these and other projects, I have also supervised more than 50 international documentary co-productions.
I earlier taught at Swansea University, where I was the Programme Director for the Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme in Journalism, Media and Globalisation (War and Conflict Specialism).
My PhD, from the University of Westminster in London, examines how the analytical reach of media systems theory could be extended to take into account the complex reality of non-Western media systems.
Publications
2019
- Zeng, X.et al. 2019. New perspectives on citizen journalism: Introduction to special issue. Global Media and China 4(1), pp. 3-12. (10.1177/2059436419836459)
- Jain, S. 2019. India’s media development seesaw: Advancement and vulnerability in the world’s largest democracy. In: Benequista, N. et al. eds. International Media Development Historical Perspectives and New Frontiers., Vol. 23. Mass Communication and Journalism Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 137-143.
2016
- Jain, S. 2016. India: You ain't seen nothing yet. In: Mair, J. et al. eds. Last Words?: How can journalism survive the decline of print?. Bury St Edmunds: Abramis academic publishing
2015
- Jain, S. 2015. India: Multiple media explosions. In: Nordenstreng, K. and Thussu, D. K. eds. Mapping BRICS Media. London: Routledge, pp. 145-165., (10.4324/9781315726212-10)
Teaching
I teach on the MA International Journalism and MA Digital Documentary programmes, where a large part of my focus is helping students develop their skills and produce high quality Master's projects, whether in print, multimedia or as a documentary.
I also teach a foundational module to first year undergraduates.