The Press Club, Thiruvananthapuram is the hub of media activities in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, capital of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Established in 1965 with 20 members, which has now swelled into 350. Governor Sahay addressed the first ‘Meet-the-Press’ program on 8 February 1967.

History

E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the

Chief Minister of Kerala The chief minister of Kerala is the chief executive of the Indian state of Kerala. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Fol ...

, laid the foundation stone of the Press Club Building on 17 April 1968, and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi inaugurated the three storied building presently hosting the Press Club

on 19 May 1969.

Institute of Journalism

The Institute of Journalism, Thiruvananthapuram the first journalism institute in India to be run by professional journalists, started functioning in 1968. The founder-director of the Institute was M Sivaram, who had worked with the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

. The Institute offers a one-year Post-Graduate Diploma in journalism (PGDJ) and a Certificate Courses in Electronic Journalism,

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and TV jockeying, news photography and

Citizen journalism Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...

Facilities

A new bloc, with a cellar for recreational activities (Sanketam), was declared open by Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting

Ajit Kumar Panja Ajit Kumar Panja (13 September 1936 – 14 November 2008) was a Union minister of state in the Government of India. He was a member of Indian National Congress party but left it to join Trinamool Congress. He was born in Calcutta, and studied ...

on 9 January 1989, in the presence of Kerala Revenue Minister PS Sreenivasan and Leader of the Opposition K. Karunakaran. The air-conditioned conference hall of the building, with the capacity to seat 100 persons, is claimed to be largest of its kind in Press Clubs anywhere in the country. The foundation stone for the third building, replacing the original home of the club, was laid by President Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma on 13 February 1996. A second centrally-air-conditioned conference hall with the latest acoustic facilities was inaugurated by Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar on 27 August 2000 on the third floor of the first building. A new building, which mainly houses the Institute of Journalism, was inaugurated by Chief Minister A. K. Antony in 2003. In 2005, Chief Minister

Oommen Chandy Oommen Chandy, , (born 31 October 1943) is an Indian politician and statesman who served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016. He was also Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislati ...

inaugurated the gymnasium in its cellar. A year later, the Chief Minister inaugurated the information centre and library on the ground floor of the new building. The Club has instituted nine annual awards: the M Sivaraman Award for News Stories and Features, the KC Sebastian Award for Political Reporting, the Swadeshabhimani Award for Layout and Design, the News Photography Award, the Cartoon Award, the National Award for the Best Features in English and the V Krishnamoorthy Award for the Best News Story in English.

Activities

The activities of the Press Club include exchange programmes with fraternal clubs, provision of media-related consultancy services to the government, conducting seminars, Meet-the-Press programmes and workshops on development and mass media-related issues, creation of new recreational avenues for members and their families and skill-upgradation programmes. It also provides insurance cover for all its members and their families.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Kerala Press Club Website
Organisations based in Thiruvananthapuram Organizations established in 1965 Mass media in Thiruvananthapuram Press clubs Indian journalism organisations 1965 establishments in Kerala