All mass media content, from news, film and TV, through to advertising, radio, video games and social media, is about the stories we tell about ourselves as a society and as individuals. We need to understand who is producing it, how it is produced, what it is saying and what effect it is having. Today, more than at any time since the invention of the first truly mass communication technology in the early 20th century, media is having a profound effect on our social, political and economic lives. As a result, media studies frequently takes an interdisciplinary approach to its enquiry, embracing politics, economics and psychology, as well as law and ethics. While some may see this as a flaw, in our frantically interconnected world, perhaps it should be acknowledged as another strength.
The media needs to be taken seriously; media is the only subject that moves with the times and the generations studying it. It requires academic approaches that historically academic subjects do not – the study of theories and analyses that traditional subjects do not require. There is an expectation that students of media are able to apply their theoretical knowledge to everyday, 21st century texts and scenarios – things they are actually living through now - something most other subjects lack.
Skills training in universities may be controversial, but students don’t just learn to be journalists, or just learn to be film-makers. They learn to critically assess their cultural production, to understand that it can be part of a system that is steeped in cause and consequence. They learn that communication and its changing landscape needs to be understood, not just by them, but by the global population. Creating a message is what media is all about.
Whether we like it or not, media studies is one of the defining subjects of our age, so isn’t it finally time we took it seriously?
The word ‘media’ is derived from the word medium, signifying mode or carrier. Media is intended to reach and address a large target group or audience. The word was first used in respect of books and newspapers i.e. print media and with the advent of technology, media now encompasses television, movies, radio and internet. In today’s world, media is as essential as our daily needs. The media of today is playing an outstanding role in creating and shaping of public opinion and the strengthening of society.
Media can sway and challenge democracy. It should and does act as a watchdog to protect the public interest against malpractice and create public awareness. Media heightens awareness, teaches moral pathways and suggests new ways of believing and thinking. It enables those who feel they have no voice to develop one through social use and enables the public to stand together against those whose beliefs and attitudes are wrong.
It would be short sighted of any member of society to think that media is just a ‘soft subject for arty types’. Perhaps those that think this are the people being left behind by the rapid development and growth mind set of the next generation of employees, primed to see exactly where their knowledge of how to socially advertise a business, promote moving image online, develop the next big app, create a world of gaming, or be involved in the making of great TV and films can take them. Let’s face it – without media, we are nothing in the 21st Century.