Media studies students

[llantwit]

How about teaching a useful body of knowledge?

How about being a bit less patronising?
The body of knowledge taught where I work overlaps a lot with that taught in English, Cultural Studies, and Sociology. Media straddles the social science/humanities divide quite interestingly, and gives students similar knolwedge and skills to what they'd get doing those subjects. And it does it very well. Now if you think that those other subjects are also not "useful" then that's a whole different debate. But if you're singling out media as more "useless" than its humanities and soc-sci kin, and would argue the case for studying any of those others, then all I can say is that my experience (which is limited to one, pretty good university) leads me to disagree completely.

 

[llantwit]

So the whole thing is quite confusing, especially for star-struck 17 year-olds doing their UCAS applications who might be forgiven for assuming that because medical students tend to become doctors and law students tend to become lawyers, media students tend to work in the media. Most don't, and most media workers didn't study media.

That said, I'm sure that some univerities really play on the whole 'vocational' thing just to get bums on seats, and are a little less honest than they should be.

 

[lights.out.london]

How about being a bit less patronising?
The body of knowledge taught where I work overlaps a lot with that taught in English, Cultural Studies, and Sociology. Media straddles the social science/humanities divide quite interestingly, and gives students similar knolwedge and skills to what they'd get doing those subjects. And it does it very well. Now if you think that those other subjects are also not "useful" then that's a whole different debate. But if you're singling out media as more "useless" than its humanities and soc-sci kin, and would argue the case for studying any of those others, then all I can say is that my experience (which is limited to one, pretty good university) leads me to disagree completely.

Shame grad employers and recruiters don't agree with you.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Edited to correct:

That said, I'm sure that some univerities really play on the whole 'vocational' thing just to get bums on seats, and are a lot less honest than they should be.

 

[llantwit]

But like I said, that really doesn't resonate with my experience at a media dept in a top quality UK university. I'm certain that a media degree from here prepares students just as adequately for the jobmarket as any other humanities or social science degree from this place.
There's always a whipping boy subject that gets a rough deal from certain elements - in the 70s and 80s it was sociology, which seems to be fine now in most employers' books. For a very long while English Lit got a very rough deal - but not many would say that was a 'useless' degree these days.

 

[llantwit]

Shame grad employers and recruiters don't agree with you.

I wouldn't deny that - I'll take your word for it. But when it comes to media degrees from good universities, they're just wrong, and possibly acting out of misplaced prejudice.

 

[isvicthere?]

the new sociology?

Do university toilets have graffiti above the bogroll dispenser which says, "Media studies degree, please take one" as used to be the case with sociology?

 

[llantwit]

And anyway - aside from sneers from people who know little about the subject, is there anybody here who thnks that the study of the media isn't a useful discipline for Universities to embrace?
To me it's just as, if not more, valid to study media and media history today as it is to study English Lit. The mass media's an incredibly pervasive phenomenon that effects just about everybody in our society. Not to study it would be massively stupid.

 

[isvicthere?]

The problem being is media studies students have fine grasp of Russian Cinema in the 20s and it's relevancy to Stalinist idealogy, but ask them to stripe a beta with 10hr time code, and they'll look at you like you're speaking Swahila.

Most media studies course teach fuck all technical skills, and while they've been shown how to switch the camera on, and use the editing package, they've recieve no serious technical training.

Whats that? Oh you want to go into "production"? Well then you need to be ultra professional, very intelligent, and stand out of the crowd. Oh and be very bloody lucky, and know someone in the industry.

So your view is a degree should be vocational training, not academic? Should English undergraduates study printing as well?

 

[llantwit]

Do university toilets have graffiti above the bogroll dispenser which says, "Media studies degree, please take one" as used to be the case with sociology?

It's geography where I am, actually.
Most people in the University where I work recognise that Media's a valid and quite tough subject. You can't get in to do it without very good A-level grades, and it's seen as far from an easy ride.

 

[llantwit]

So your view is a degree should be vocational training, not academic? Should English undergraduates study printing as well?

Totally. It's just a mental way of looking at university education. Do all Sociology grads become sociologists? How about all Geographers becoming explorers? They don't? What a useless degree. Philosophy: Philosophers? Etc.

 

[Belushi]

I don't get the importance of any degrees, really -- loads of talented people I know in radio don't have a degree, partly because they spent the time they "should" have been doing their degree working for free at low-rent radio stations the BBC are more of a stickler for it, from what I can tell, but commercial radio and production companies would rather take someone who actually cared about radio than someone with a degree who was using it as a rung towards something else...

the problem nowadays is because so many young people go to university many jobs demand a degree as an entry level qualification (some airlines for air stewardesses for example) a job which twenty years ago would have asked for O or A Levels now asks for a degree as a minimum requirement.

 

[lights.out.london]

I wouldn't deny that - I'll take your word for it. But when it comes to media degrees from good universities, they're just wrong, and possibly acting out of misplaced prejudice.

...acting in response to the incoherent CVs received and the "world owes me a living cos I got a 2:2 from a former tech college." attitude.

Work hard. Get good A-levels. Go to a proper uni. Do a proper, rigorous academic degree. Get a job (which doesn't involve pouring drinks or asking if the customer would like to be Supersized).

 

[mistere]

Shame grad employers and recruiters don't agree with you.

Nor you, apparently: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4459922.stm

Media studies graduates have among the highest rates of employment of all graduates; this isn't quite the article I was looking for, though. I remeber another article fairly recently that said the same thing but which specified that media studies graduates also have among the highest rates of employment in 'graduate jobs' (after, vocational subjects like medicine and law and some of the sciences). I'll post a link if I can track down the report.

By the way, I'm not a media studies graduate!

 

[lights.out.london]

Nor you, apparently: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4459922.stm

Unless I've misread that piece, it says nothing about the kind of work media studies grads are engaged in or their starting comp.

As I mentioned before, I'm a City recruiter. I think I'm on safe ground when I say that us pinstripers roundly chuckle at another 2:2 in meeja from the, say, former Southampton Technical College rebranded as Solent University!

Why do we chuckle? Cos we can. And when you put a meeja grad next to someone with a traditional academic background, the difference in calibre of candidate is startling.

Tongue-in-cheek aside: I despair when I hear of the advice "careers masters" give 16-18 year olds. It bears little relation to the world of work.

My advice would be to do a trad degree and then go onto specialise in meeja by doing a Masters, or something.

Or leave school at 16 and go and be a runner (my ex did this and she's now the producer of a very very well known UK reality TV prog).

 

[llantwit]

Unless I've misread that piece, it says nothing about the kind of work media studies grads are engaged in or their starting comp.

As I mentioned before, I'm a City recruiter. I think I'm on safe ground when I say that us pinstripers roundly chuckle at another 2:2 in meeja from the, say, former Southampton Technical College rebranded as Solent University!

Why do we chuckle? Cos we can. And when you put a meeja grad next to someone with a traditional academic background, the difference in calibre of candidate is startling.

Tongue-in-cheek aside: I despair when I hear of the advice "careers masters" give 16-18 year olds. It bears little relation to the world of work.

My advice would be to do a trad degree and then go onto specialise in meeja by doing a Masters, or something.

Or leave school at 16 and go and be a runner (my ex did this and she's now the producer of a very very well known UK reality TV prog).

I'd agree with all that.
But I'd guard against dismissing media students from good academic universities unless you know the department is especially bad for any reason.
And also to say that nobody should see a good media degree from a good university as a vocational qualification. It ain't one.
Do an academic degree and try and get on one of the best NCTJ journalism diploma courses if you want vocational media training.

 

[8den]

So your view is a degree should be vocational training, not academic? Should English undergraduates study printing as well?

No, but if you want to work in any technical area of media be it radio, film, print, or tv, you should consider it. If you want to be a sub editor, or camerman, or radio producer, or film editor, your education should include some degree of vocational training. The old system of apprenticeships has vanished. I've had people come to me about work, and they can maybe use the software package, but have had no idea of the principals behind the technology.

 

[Zorra]

The problem being is media studies students have fine grasp of Russian Cinema in the 20s and it's relevancy to Stalinist idealogy, but ask them to stripe a beta with 10hr time code, and they'll look at you like you're speaking Swahila.

Do you mean Swahili? Actually I produce radio shows in Swahili so this made me

 

[miss direct]

I did media at uni, specialised in journalism. I'm now a journalist, and can name a lot of other people from my course who are doing well, working in the media. Don't really get why people have a problem and are all snobby and stuck up.

If an employer refused to give me an interview on the basis that I did a media and communications degree, and overlooked every other thing on my CV, they would be missing out, not me.

Other people on my paper went to uni and did various subjects such as history, classics and English. All subjects, along with my degree, that require you to learn about things, think, and write essays. Just the topics are different.

I may have a different view as I started off at a "proper" uni doing a "proper" subject. Hated it, didn't see how it would ever help me get a job. Left after 2 semesters, went to a former poly, did a media degree, and it got me where I wanted to be.