What Munich’s Media Institutions Taught Me Throughout the Semester

Before this course officially started, I mentioned one goal for this semester in my first blog, which was to understand Munich’s and Germany’s media institutions through real experiences instead of just textbooks or PowerPoint slides. As a journalism student, I was really interested in learning more about Germany’s media institutions, and I was very curious and looking forward to taking this course. After the whole semester, I have to say that I am really glad I took this course. During the whole semester, I had the chance to participate in the field trips and learn more about Germany’s media institutions through the class. I came to understand much more deeply the media institutions in Germany and even in some other countries. The media institutions in Germany made me realise that media are not merely organisations that produce content. They can be very flexible and so different. They can be a community, an educational space, or a public service. 

What made this course particularly meaningful and intriguing was that we had different opportunities to learn outside the classroom. Instead of only discussing media theories, we visited different institutions across Munich and listened to the people working behind them. These were much more direct and practical ways for us to better understand the media institutions in Munich and left a much deeper impression on me. These experiences gave us the chance to closely observe how media organisations operate in reality. These field trips also brought me different perspectives, encouraging me to think critically about the values and challenges behind their work.

Among all the field trips, Radio LORA left one of the deepest impressions on me. I remember the first time I entered Radio LORA. It was much smaller than I expected, but after the introduction, the only thing left in my mind was their greater passion for broadcasting. I discovered this is a community built upon passion, diversity, and public participation. I was especially inspired by the fact that volunteers dedicated their time not for profit or popularity but because they genuinely believed that everyone deserved a voice. They embrace different ideas; they believe everything is possible. This demonstrated that media can give different communities a chance to be heard rather than simply broadcast information.

At the same time, the visit also reminded me that idealism cannot be the only things that support a media outlet to keep on.  LORA provides an important public service and an open platform while facing financial difficulties. This raised an important question for me long after the visit: if society values independent voices that are isolated from the Government, who should be responsible for sustaining them? Before this course, I often evaluated media according to its audience reach or influence. That was my standard for judging whether a media outlet was successful. After visiting LORA, I began to appreciate another dimension of media. As they mentioned, they do not even know exactly how many audience members they have. Instead, they cherish the value of providing as much space as possible for voices that might otherwise remain unheard. This reminded me that the nature of journalism is not just about clicks and audience numbers, but also about helping different voices and perspectives to be heard.

Another memorable visit was to Mediaschool Bayern. This visit was totally eye-opening because I really admired its structure. Coming from Hong Kong, where journalism education is mainly related to universities, I was surprised by the school’s flexible and practice-oriented model of Mediaschool Bayern. Students can produce their journalistic pieces while still studying, allowing them to gain practical experience. Journalism is definitely a profession that requires continuous practice and the accumulation of experience. I think this system of media school is really new to me. However, at the same time, I also reflected critically on the school’s close cooperation with media companies. Although these partnerships create stable cooperation between them, this also prompted me to think about whether these might affect students’ career choices. Through this special educational structure in Munich, I learned to evaluate media institutions from multiple perspectives and consider both their benefits and potential limitations..

Apart from the field trips, the process of preparing for our group presentation also became another valuable learning experience that helped me understand media institutions in Germany. Our group focused on Social Media as a Media Institution in Germany. Conducting research made me realise that social media has gradually become a media institution itself. It also influences how news is produced, distributed, and consumed.

During the research, I also found another interesting society phenomenon toward the citizens’ trust in news they consumed on social media. Although social media has become an increasingly important news source and even gradually developed its own media institution, many Germans continue to rely on trusted public-service media to verify information. This demonstrated that technological change does not necessarily replace traditional media institutions. The way that people consume news is changing, but they still retain care toward the news they acquire online. I also noticed that issues such as information overload, news avoidance, and algorithmic influence, which have reshaped the relationship between audiences and journalism. 

Another part that also gave me lots of insight was when comparing Germany with Hong Kong and other Asian societies. Coming from Hong Kong,  I initially viewed Germany’s media landscape mostly based on the experience that I had based on my home countries and my own experiences. However, researching different countries reminded me that media institutions can be so different among different countries. Media institutions are deeply shaped by different factors, such as the historical, political, and cultural contexts of those countries. There is no universal model that every society follows. Instead, each country develops its own media environment according to its values and social needs. Understanding the development of its media institutions’ history can also help in some way understand the country’s development. The other presentation from my peers further reinforces the fact that media development somehow implies the country’s different situations.

Talking about my peers’ presentations, it is worth mentioning that these detailed presentations gave me more background information and helped me understand media institutions in Germany better. Listening to these presentations helped me better understand the overall picture of media institutions in Germany. It also made me realise that my learning did not only come from the lecturer or the field trips, but also from the diverse experiences brought by classmates from different cultural backgrounds. Their comparisons encouraged me to look beyond Germany itself and consider how media systems differ across countries. It made me realise that even within Europe, where countries are geographically close to one another, there can still be huge differences in their media institutions. Although each institution has its own unique characteristics, many of them face similar challenges, including digital transformation, changing audience behaviour, and maintaining public trust.

Throughout the whole semester, this course taught me not only knowledge about individual media organisations but also how to observe media institutions critically and understand their wider role in society. Every blog post not only described our experiences but also encouraged us to question and think critically.

As I reflect on this semester, I feel glad that I chose this course as a way for me to know more about Germany. After this course, Germany became more than something I learned about in lectures. Through these field trips, presentations, and discussions, it became much more real to me. I did not simply learn the names of these media institutions. I experienced how they operate, questioned why they matter, and considered how they compare with the media environment I grew up with in Hong Kong.

More important is how this course reminded me that media institutions are much more than places where news is produced. They are highly related to a country’s development. They are flexible, and everything is possible in the journalism world. They help preserve democratic values, provide spaces for public participation, educate future journalists, and continuously adapt to technological and social change.