Media Studies Under Review

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Students are home, enjoying the summer but they are also preparing for college in the fall. Some of them don’t want colleges in their states or provinces, although they are cheaper. They want to spread their wings far, very far away from mom and dad and the interrogation.

“But son, Media Studies! What will they teach you in college that is not on Twitter?”

It is a valid question but Media Studies or Journalism is more than just the video camera or the reporter’s notebook. Delete that, cellphones are the new notebook. Media Studies are more than pointing a microphone at someone.

They are also about the collaborative nature of news gathering and filtering, because the radio or television station needs only two minutes of the 15 minute interview. Media studies teach college students about expectation. They must not be racist or gender insensitive.

In fact they must know a little bit of everything: ethics; producer’s role; the constitution; how city and provincial or state governments work; the court system; national holidays; religious holidays; various neighborhoods and who inhabits them and how to file stories from a cellphone.

And that’s the problem right there. Mom and dad know Twitter is synonymous with breaking news, so why go to college for learn how to use it? Because you can be banned from Twitter. Ask Donald Trump, a former U.S. President.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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