Field Trip 4: Media School Bayern – Learning by doing

Hey guys, welcome back to my blog. I am here again with a short story about our latest field trip from my Professional Communication course. In this course at LMU, we have already visited several media institutions, but this field trip felt exciting from the very beginning. Our visit to Media School Bayern in Munich was not only informative but also very inspiring, especially because of its strong focus on practice and learning by doing.

Before the visit, I had already done some research on Media School Bayern, so I knew that it is a non-profit media training institution where students produce real radio and TV content. However, seeing the place in action helped me understand much better how everything actually works and what makes this institution so special.

Media School Bayern offers a free training program for students who are interested in media production. The structure is similar to an internship: students are not paid, but they gain valuable hands-on experience and receive a certificate at the end. Students can choose a daily team (Tagesteam) and focus on specific areas such as politics, news, music, or sports. Each day is coordinated by a chief of the day, who is paid, just like the teachers and some volunteers. Although the organization is non-profit, the content they produce generates income, which is then used to pay staff and improve educational opportunities for the students. I found this system very fair and transparent.

During the tour, we explored many different rooms, including a podcast studio, meeting rooms, technical areas, radio studios, and a large TV studio. As someone interested in communication, it was exciting to see so much professional equipment in one place. One moment that really caught my attention was in the video equipment room. Our guide explained that while they still have large professional cameras, they increasingly use iPhones and small gimbal cameras because they offer almost the same quality and are much more practical. This showed me how much media production has changed and how flexible it has become.

The large working area of the interns was one of the most impressive spaces for me. Many students were working there at the same time, each at their own desk, doing different tasks. The room was full of colors, post-its, notes, and pictures. It looked a bit chaotic, but in a creative and lively way. You could really feel that ideas were being developed and that everyone was actively involved. Some students were writing scripts, others were preparing content or working on production. It was inspiring to see how much responsibility young people already have there.

Another moment that stayed with me was listening to a student reading live on the radio. He spoke German very fluently and confidently, even when reading difficult words. As a non-native speaker, I found this especially impressive and motivating, and it made me think that I would also like to develop such skills in the future.

Overall, Media School Bayern impressed me with its practical and experimental approach to learning. Compared to purely theoretical teaching, this hands-on model feels very effective. Sometimes I feel that theory alone is hard to connect to real practice, and this visit showed me how powerful learning by doing can be.

This was definitely one of my favorite field trips so far. The atmosphere was youthful, open, and creative, and almost everyone there was under 30, yet already working very professionally. Media School Bayern left a very positive impression on me and showed me how engaging and practical media education can be.

I hope you enjoyed this little blog post about my experience at Media School Bayern at least as much as I enjoyed the trip. Take care and see you soon! 👋