Indian Institute of Mass Communication  considers communication as an imperative for development and is committed to serving society by providing world class teaching, training and research, thus preparing students, officers and practitioners to take on the challenges of an ever-evolving world. IIMC’s training programmes have been tailored to meet the needs of developing countries and this makes IIMC different and places it in a unique position. This also gives a unique identity and character to IIMC alumni, who hold positions of responsibility and repute all across the world.

IIMC enjoys a pride of place in mass communication education, training and research. This is also reflected in its top position among the various evaluation studies undertaken by media and professional bodies year after year.

Inaugurated on August 17, 1965, by the then Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Indira Gandhi, the Institute started with a small staff, including two consultants from UNESCO.

In the first few years, the Institute organised training courses mainly for Central Information Service Officers and undertook research studies on a modest scale. Then, in 1969, a major international training programme, the Postgraduate Diploma Course in Journalism for Developing Countries, for middle-level working journalists from Afro-Asian countries, was started. A number of specialised short courses of one week to three months' duration were subsequently started by the Institute to meet the training needs of communication professionals working in various media and publicity outfits of the Central and State Governments and public sector organisations. Over the years, IIMC started to offer regular Post-Graduate Diploma Courses.

In the present times IIMC has expanded its academic activities and now runs a number of specialised courses to meet the skilled manpower requirements of the rapidly expanding media and communication industry. IIMC also makes a concerted effort to constantly innovate its programmes in order to meet the challenges thrown up by developments in the industry. The syllabi are regularly reviewed for necessary changes and suitable modifications to make them relevant to the needs of the industry

IIMC has five Regional Centres across the country that cater to not just Journalism courses in English - but also in the local languages.

The first Regional Centre was set up at Dhenkanal, Odisha, in 1993 to cater to the demands of the Eastern region.

Two regional centres were established at Amravati in Maharashtra for the Western region and at Aizawl in Mizoram for the North Eastern regions from the academic year 2011-12.

Regional centres were set up Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir to cater to the demands of North Region and at Kottayam, Kerala for the South region from the academic year 2012-13.

Regional centres were set up Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir to cater to the demands of North Region and at Kottayam, Kerala for the South region from the academic year 2012-13.

IIMC currently cumulatively runs the following Post-Graduate courses at its New Delhi and five Regional Centres:

• English Journalism
• Advertising & Public Relations
• Hindi Journalism
• Radio & TV Journalism
• Digital Media
• Odia Journalism
• Urdu Journalism
• Marathi Journalism
• Malayalam Journalism

Courses for Indian Information Services

As per the Personnel Policy of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, IIS officers of group A and B have a two-year training programme, including three months at the National Academies, nine months at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi and one-year on-the-job training. After undergoing a Foundation Course at the National Academies, Officer Trainees join IIMC for professional training where they are led through a programme that includes theoretical orientation, skill enhancement and an overall personality development. At the end of the first year of training, OTs are expected to know and understand not only the Indian Media and Communication industry but also be able to demonstrate their skills in media technology and have a clear concept of the underlying forces that are shaping the media-scape today.

Department of Short-Term Courses and Training

The Institute runs regular short-term academic programmes for personnel from different media units of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. The Institute also conducts a large number of specialized short-term courses, ranging from one week to 12 weeks' duration to meet the professional training needs of officers of armed forces, police personnel of various states and those working in various media and publicity organizations of Central and State Governments, as well as Public Sector Enterprises.

Since its inception, the Institute has organized a total of 692 such courses, and trained over 14,496 persons from India and abroad.