Blog Post 3: Media School Bayern

By: Ignacia Palma

For this blogpost I choose to write about the Media Bayern School, because from what I heard about my classmates who went on the field trip and about everything I read about them in their website and social media, I think it is a very interesting organization to understand how the formation of the future professionals of the media is changing.
Before investigating about this, I thought that a media school was a place where students learned about the theoretical things of journalism, radio or TV. Nonetheless, Media School Bayern work as a much practical space and ways. Their main goal is to prepare young people who have talent for the media world, a world where knowing how to write or speak before a camera or microphone, is not enough, it is also necessary to be able to manage audios, videos, podcasts,social media and even IA tools.

One of the most significant aspects of this organization is their practical focus. In their web page they present themselves as a formation who is close to reality, it is creative and fundamental. They say that young people do not learn only by hearing explanations, but rather by producing original content in real newsrooms, especially in M94.5 in Munich and in Max Neo in Nuremberg. In my opinion this is relevant, because journalism and communication can not only be understand from theoretical points of view. So that the young people can really learn about this subject they need to investigate, record, edit, make mistakes, receive feedback etc.

From this point of view,the Media Bayern School has a very important role in education. It works as a connection between academic formation and the professional world of media communications. A lot of students can discover their strengths there : maybe even who feel more comfortable speaking to a microphone, or behind a camera or creating social media content. Also the fact of working with professionals enables learning that is more realistic and closer to what actually happens in a newsroom.

Also I believe that this particular organization has a role in the democratic system. The reason is because a de o racy need responsable media and people who are capable of informing with criteria. Even though Media School of Bayern is not a political institution, they do contribute in a non direction way to democracy, because if helps form the journalists of the future. If this young people learn values as responsibility, independence, serious work and critical and correct use of information, then they can be an input to maintaining society better informed.

On the other hand, within the German media Landscape, Media School Bayern also appears to fulfill a strategic function. It does not only help form people, but also strengthens Bavaria’s media sector. It connects education, enterprises, professional media and young people with talent. That is one of the reasons why this organization can be understand as one who helps keep the industry of media alive in the region, while also having a national reach. Besides, with working with so many different and modern formats as reels, podcasts, videos, IA and so on, it shows that the journalism of today it does not only belong and work with the typical tradicional media.

The journalistic values that you can observe are the professional practice, the creativity, independence, collaborative work and the responsibility. It think it is extremely important that they not only teach techniques, but also a way of understanding the media as something that require compromise, and criteria. The idea of using IA in a creative and responsable way is very up-to-date, because today communicators need to know how to use these tools without losing critical thinking.

Nevertheless, there are also other aspects that can be looked critically. One of them is that the organization can seem to be really connected with the industry of media. This can be positive, because it opens a lot of labor opportunities, because of the close relationships with the media companies. However I also believe that it is important that the training does not only focus on preparing students to land a job, but also on teaching them to be responsable, critical and independent journalists as was said before.
Another posible criticism is that for being so focused in social media, speed, digital formats and visibility there is a risk that the real fundamental content takes second place. In the todays media sometimes it is very important to produce quickly and get peoples attention, but journalism also takes time, investigation and depth.

Also some people could question the access, because even though the organization offered a lot of valuable opportunities, not everyone can access this kind of opportunities, because not all of them have the same conditions for being able to participate. Some of this conditions, living near or in Munich or Nuremberg , having previous abilities and so on.

Besides that I think the positive aspects are stronger, media school of Bayern offers an opportunitie for young people to learn about journalism while doing it, learning by gaining experience and so that they can get close to the professional world without having to wait to finish their studies. Also, it helps see new talents and helps people to create their own careers in important media like BR, ProSievenSat1 and so on.

In conclusion, Medis School of Bayern is not only a media school, but it is also a space where the education, practice, technology and democracy connect themselves. For me was really interesting to understand how journalism has Chan he’s in time and that today a communicator must be flexible, creative and able y work in different formats all the time. But also they must maintain responsibility and critical thinking. That is why I think this organization has an important value, but they must keep in mind not to loose sight that forming good professionals of media does not mean only teaching modern tools, but also forming people who are capable of communicating with ethics, depth and social sense.