With a view to making the best use of communication facilities for information, publicity and development, the Government of India in 1962-63 sought the advice of the Ford Foundation/UNESCO team of internationally known mass communication specialists who recommended the setting up of a national institute for training, teaching and research in mass communication. Consequently, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) was started in 1965.

The late Smt. Indira Gandhi, the then Minister in charge of Information and Broadcasting, formally inaugurated the Institute on 17 August 1965. On 22 January 1966, the administration of the Institute was transferred to the IIMC Society, registered under the Societies Registration Act (XXI) of 1860. Since then, the Institute has been functioning as an autonomous centre for advanced study in mass Communication, training and research, fully funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The Institute made a humble beginning 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. But in 1969, IIMC started a major international training programme, the Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Journalism for Developing Countries, for middle level working journalists from Afro-Asian countries. In addition, a number of specialised short course of one week to three months' duration were also started by the Institute to meet training needs of communication professionals working in various media/publicity outfits of the central and state governments and public sector organisations.

To meet further requirements of the Third World Non-Aligned countries in context of the imbalance and distortion of news coverage, the Institute started an eight-month course for news agency journalists from non-aligned countries in 1978. The duration of the course was reduced from eight to five months in 1987 to accommodate more participants since the demand for the Course was growing and also to take care of the difficulties faced by the sponsoring news agencies who had to spare their working journalists for the training programme.

Now, the Institute orgainses two five-month agency journalism courses in a year. The name of the course is Diploma in Development Journalism courses in a year for Non-Aligned and other developing countries

A One-year Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Advertising and Public Relations was started in 1981 to fulfill a long-felt need in this expanding field of mass communication.

In 1981-82, the Institute started a course in Broadcast Journalism for in-service personnel from Akashvani and Doordarshan.

To meet the increasing demand for training facilities for those working or desirous to work in Indian language journalism, the Institute in 1987 started full-time one-year Post-Graduate Course in Journalism (Hindi).

With a view to meeting the increasing demand from eastern sates, the Institute opened a branch in 1993 in Dhenkanal (Orissa) where Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Journalism is being offered.

To meet increasing demand for training facilities for Radio & Television Journalism, the Institute has started a full time course in Radio & Television Journalism from 1997.