Final Conclusions and Farewell

Looking back at this course and the field trips we undertook, I realize that my understanding of professional journalism has become both more concrete and more complex. Through visits to media institutions, educational settings, and science communication spaces, journalism gradually turned into something live and practiced.

One of the strongest impressions came from visiting Bayerischer Rundfunk. As a public broadcaster founded in 1929 and reshaped after 1949, BR embodies the historical responsibility of journalism in Germany. The broadcasting fee system is designed to protect journalism while holding it accountable to society, which clearly reflects a strong belief in journalism as a public good. Seeing journalists work flexibly across radio, television, and digital platforms also challenged my earlier assumption that traditional media institutions are slow or rigid. Instead, BR demonstrated how public-service journalism can adapt technologically while preserving its normative mission of balance and reliability.

This idea of journalism serving society rather than merely chasing attention was echoed in our encounter with the Munich Science Communication Lab (MSCL). Here, the boundary between journalism, academia, and public dialogue becomes blurred. MSCL’s focus on Planetary Health showed me that communication today is less about transmitting isolated facts and more about explaining interconnections. Science communication, in this sense, is a form of specialized journalism that requires not only accuracy but also empathy and creativity. I learned that good journalism does not simplify by reducing complexity, but by making complexity accessible.

At the same time, our experiences reminded me that journalism exists in many forms beyond major newsrooms. Interviewing the owner of the local restaurant “Bei Antonio” made me reflect on community-based storytelling. This was not hard news, but it taught me how everyday narratives create news value.

My reflections on print media further deepened this realization. Despite frequent claims that print journalism is dying, visiting the printing house and observing the continued influence of a traditional newspaper convinced me otherwise. Print may no longer dominate the market, but it still represents depth, credibility, and a slower rhythm of information. In an age of algorithm-driven news feeds, this persistence itself becomes a form of resistance.

Education emerged as another key theme during our visit to Bayern Media School. The hands-on, student-led training model highlighted how journalism is learned not only through theory, but through practice, teamwork, and experimentation. Compared with my own academic environment, which emphasizes conceptual frameworks, this experience helped me see the value of integrating professional routines into education.

Based on these experiences, my vision for the future of journalism is cautiously optimistic. I see a field that becomes more hybrid. Public and private, professional and participatory, human and technological can be mixed together. Innovations such as AI, digital platforms, and immersive formats will continue to reshape journalism, but their value depends on whether they strengthen journalism’s core function, serving society with trustworthy, meaningful information. Especially in areas like science communication and local reporting, journalism has the potential to rebuild trust by focusing on dialogue rather than dominance.

Academically, this course helped me connect theories of media systems, public communication, and journalism ethics with real-world practices. Personally, it changed how I see journalists: not just as bylines or institutions, but as individuals making daily choices under structural constraints. As a student of international journalism, this experience encouraged me to think more critically about responsibility, context, and audience.

This final blog post is therefore not only a conclusion, but also a farewell to a learning journey that reshaped my perspective. Thank you München, Vielen Dank LMU, and especially, Leila. Maybe it will be a long time until our next meet-up, but I’m sure we will meet again.