It’s ironic when people insult degrees within
the Media. As usually they’re taking the mick through social media, or doing it
when listening to the radio, watching TV, or wearing something that
advertisements persuaded them to.
Speaking of mick, you should thank media for
being such a ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree, because that lil guy wouldn’t exist or
continue to without us guys.
There’s a general perception that media
students may lounge around watching films, binging Netflix, snapping pics for
Instagram. As a Media and Communications student (I specialise in Music
Industries), I’m glad that that’s not the case. My degree is teaching me about
the society and culture.
‘Media studies is about the way information
is communicated to the masses, and how that is shaped by, and in turn shapes,
society.’ reports The Independent.
Media degrees require a manic mix of
production, practice and theory. It’s such a vague term that it’s almost
unbelievable how much is beneath it. There are over 1600 different media courses available to apply to on UCAS, and that was
in 2012. Proving how diverse media courses are.
Photography, TV, events and exhibitions,
business, radio, new media, PR, journalism, visual design are just the start… they’re
part of building my three year, full time course at Birmingham City University.
All require hard work, courage to not shy
away, and creativity. Media students don’t just learn one discipline as the
industries cross over, so we’re always kept on our toes. Before we spend hours
creating and editing our production work, we have to conduct research to
justify our work and then evaluate it afterwards. Then put it into practice in
compulsory placements.
With studying media, we’re thrown into
industry practice. For PR modules we genuinely have to work with real people,
building that trust to create a three month campaign for them. We don’t sit in
class rooms, we’re out like we’re on The Apprentice – negotiating for venues to
hold gigs, talking to the council about laws for flash mobs and contacting real
press for coverage.
Same thing applies with journalism, we’re
awake at ungodly hours jumping on stories and meeting deadlines for real life
news stories. We have to follow strict law and practice.
Would you have the guts to ring up the family
of a criminal for a quote?
Then there’s the theory side of media
courses. We have readings, a lot of them actually. Media students read about
history, geography, sociology and actually get interesting insights into how
the human brain works. Our long readings explore theories of how subconscious
works, how celebrity is just a projection of sensitive ego, why music played in
stores affects your purchases, how we view TV through a male gaze, why there’s
such a sad longing to be part of fandom, and how people are living out false
narratives through the media and are too distracted by consumerism to notice.
Media students are often so open minded that
it’s hard not to question our day to day practices. We’re also pretty clued up
on politics and social movements.
Former media grad, Katie-Marie Lynch said: “media based degree invites you to
illuminate particular aspects of society that one would not normally take
an active interest in.”
A common question asked to media studies is
the almightily rude ‘but what job are you
going to get after?!’ well, there’s a whole world out there reliant on us.
Who knows?
Maybe I’ll write the script for your TV shows
or films, or film them, or do the research, or promote them. Maybe I’ll produce
the radio you’re turning up in the car. Or even do the digital marketing for,
or work at the record label of the artist being played on said radio. Actually,
maybe I’ll prefer to be writing the tabloids that you’re reading so that you
have your news that you take for granted. If I get bored of that I might go
into PR, because like every major company has a PR office. After that I have
the skills to plan your wedding. Or maybe I’ll just take some great photographs
for magazines, considering at university I also learnt how to produce print media.
Good job I kept up with visual design as well then. Wait, I just had a great
idea for an app! Media is all over the world and intertwining more and more
industries.
But, if that all fails, I can just teach…
right?
Yet we’re still paid less for our work.
Whether we’re working for free in the name of experience, or working but
receiving the lowest average gross annual wage. This is because media has
become so taken for granted in our society that it’s just assumed as easy. We
still continue to do it out of passion.
Media students have exams, we have readings,
and we have stress with our course. Admittedly, I’m not timetabled in as much
as friends on other courses. Though that’s another difficulty with media, a lot
of it is independent learning. We don’t really have lectures for production,
we’re expected to figure it out, work together, and create something.
It’s hard for a media student to shake the
stigma that comes with their studies. I’m tired of feeling like I have to pull
an embarrassed face after telling somebody what I study.
I’m not embarrassed to study media.
It is unfair to compare creative courses with
ones seen as more academic, especially without a thorough understanding of
what’s involved.
I look back at my work and I’m proud of what
I’ve achieved. I am confident, innovative, fun, understanding and a
conversationalist, just like my work.
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