The role of Media School Bayern & MSCL

Visiting Media School Bayern and the Munich Science Communication Lab were two insightful experiences which illustrated contrasting elements of Germany’s media landscape.

Serving as an outlet for young German voices, the Media School offers various training opportunities in different specialties such as radio, podcasting and television/video editing. Their internship program provides eager new journalists an immersive mixture of practical production tasks, which help lay the groundwork for a future career in media.

Their live radio broadcast ‘M94.5’ runs multiple shows daily, giving trainees full autonomy over audio production. The station is characterised by playing emerging indie artists, offering cultural representation of Munich’s local music scene. Media School’s YouTube/Television content provides opinionated discourse around topical issues with a touch of humour, to engage their audience and encourage critical discussion.

The organisation acts as a stepping stone into the media industry. Its liberal, experimental approach to education in a low-pressure environment encourages creativity and authenticity. However, a notable caveat is the school’s disconnection from the realm and expectations of established media institutions in Germany. Adapting to these structured and professional environments could prove challenging for students, as they demand impartial, formalised journalism.

Our following trip to the Munich Science Communication Lab taught us about the importance of measuring impact. The institution is particularly focused on Planetary Health and primarily conduct interactive exhibitions at the Deutsches Museum.

We learned about their balanced approach to research and evaluation. MSCL’s research is considerably time-consuming since it requires innovation- for instance, brainstorming communication methods which meet scientific quality standards. On the other hand, the evaluation process is time efficient and closely tied to specific expectations.

We had the opportunity to use these evaluation methods first-hand during the group exercise. They varied in effectiveness, from social media analysis to surveys and focus groups. The activity taught me the value of taking different variables into consideration, such as age group or prior knowledge of the topic, as these can significantly influence the relevancy of feedback.