The finale

By: Ignacia Palma

When I started this course, I thought we were only going to learn about media and journalism. After finishing the semester, I can say that I learned much more than I expected. Now I understand better how media works, why media institutions are important and how much they can influence society.

At the beginning of the semester I wrote about myself and my expectations. Everything was new for me because I came from Chile to study in Germany. I was excited but also a little nervous. Looking back now, I think this course became one of the subjects where I learned the most, not only because of the lectures but also because of the field trips and the different organizations we visited.

One thing that I really liked was that we did not only stay in the classroom. Visiting different places helped me understand the topics much better. It is very different to read about media than to actually see how people work there.

The visit to Radio LORA was one of the most interesting for me. Before this course, I never really thought about community radio. I always listened more to commercial radio stations, so I did not know much about organizations like LORA. After the visit I understood that media is not only about making money or having many listeners. Community media also gives space to people who maybe are not represented in traditional media. I think this is very important in a democracy because everyone should have the possibility to share their opinions.

Another organization that I learned about was MediaSchool Bayern. Unfortunately I could not join the visit, but researching about it was also interesting. I liked learning how students can practice journalism while they are studying. I think this is a very good way to learn because today journalism is changing very fast. Journalists need many different skills and they have to know how to work with videos, podcasts and social media, not only with newspapers.

Another thing that I learned in this course was that every country has a different media system. Before this semester I never compared Germany and Chile in this way. Germany has a strong public broadcasting system and I think it plays an important role in society. In Chile the media system is different and there are other challenges. I learned that there is no perfect system. Every country has advantages and problems, but all of them have to think about independence, trust and good journalism.

I also realized that media has much more responsibility than I thought before. Before this course I mostly used media to get information or entertainment. Now I understand that media can influence what people think and how they understand the world. Because of this, journalists have a big responsibility to check information and report in a fair way.

When I think about the future of media, I believe it will continue changing very quickly. Artificial intelligence, social media and new technologies are already changing journalism. Today everyone can create content and share information in just a few seconds. This has many advantages because information can reach more people, but it also has risks because false information can spread very fast.

For this reason, I think journalism will still be very important in the future. Maybe the tools will change, but people will always need reliable information. I think trust will become even more important than before. Good journalists will not only write news, they will also help people understand what is true and what is not.

Personally, I think this course also changed the way I consume media. Now when I read an article, listen to the radio or see something on social media, I pay more attention to where the information comes from and who created it. I ask myself more questions than before. I think this is one of the biggest things I will take with me after this course.

Finally, I am very happy that I took this class during my exchange semester. Besides learning about media, I also learned more about Germany and I could compare it with my own country. I think this experience helped me grow, both academically and personally. It also made me more interested in journalism and media than I was before. Even if I do not work in this field in the future, I know that what I learned in this course will help me understand the world in a different and more critical way.