“M94.5” – a Familiar Name, a New Perspective

Before visiting, M94.5 already felt strangely familiar to me. I had come across it several times while preparing my stay in Munich, first during my own research on student media opportunities, then at a conference organized at LMU, and later at a Media for U event where the team hosted a stand, strongly recommended by our teacher Julius Peter, who works there. However, I had always known the organization simply as “M94.5,” without fully realizing that it was part of the broader Mediaschool Bayern structure. This made the visit feel like a long-awaited encounter, bringing clarity to something I had heard about repeatedly but never experienced firsthand.

The visit itself revealed Mediaschool Bayern as a true melting pot of constructive initiatives As a training and continuing-education radio station based in Munich, it produces a largely live radio program around the clock via DAB+, while also developing audiovisual content in close collaboration with students from various Munich universities. Functioning as both a learning space and a professional media environment, it allows students to engage directly with the realities of radio, journalism, and content production.

What struck me most was the strong sense of openness and inclusivity promoted throughout the institution. Students are welcomed at different levels of involvement: from short discovery visits designed to introduce the realities of working in media, to semester-long volunteer opportunities, and even more sustained professional paths for those wishing to commit further. This accessibility creates a learning environment that feels both encouraging and empowering, particularly for students exploring media careers for the first time.

On a broader level, the visit highlighted how Mediaschool Bayern embodies current evolutions in media production. The institution actively bridges audio and video formats, reflecting the hybrid nature of today’s media landscape. This strategic shift is particularly illustrated by the creation of a new role dedicated to audiovisual content production, currently held by Julius Peter, whose mission is to ensure a balanced output between radio and video formats.

Finally, within the framework of our Professional Communication course and of my personal perspectives, this field trip prompted a deeper reflection that will be developed further in an upcoming essay. It brought up important questions about how student-led media initiatives should, and do, address international inclusion, both in their internal staffing structures and in the perspectives represented through their content.