I still want to be a Journalist!

I’ve learned a lot during this semester — about media, about society and surprisingly also about myself — in a course called Cultural Studies IV — “Inside the News Media”.

• I’ve learned that you cannot always trust media.
• I’ve learned that journalists sometimes are so desperate in need of a story that they would pay people to talk to them.
• I’ve learned about social platforms like Facebook that are using my public data for their advertisement campaigns.
• I’ve learned that people tend to concentrate on their area (e.g. Europe) and often forget the rest of the world.
• I’ve learned that I want to learn about the rest of the world.
• I’ve learned that John Oliver is a great source if you want to combine news feed with entertainment.
• I’ve learned to admire the media and to fear them at the same time.

Of course I cannot reflect on everything we’ve done because this would take at least one semester ;) But I think I can say that my consumption of media really has changed during this semester. It probably sounds pathetic to say that this course has changed my life but it actually has! It definitely helped me to be more critical. And I finally started to blog — a plan I’ve had in my head for ages and for some reason never realized. Cultural Studies IV made me cross the border between thinking about something and actually doing it.

Still there’s one question I’ve kept asking myself over and over again during the semester. Do you really want to be part of this world? A 24/7 job, low payment, many people that are annoyed by you? Now, at the end of the semester, I can answer this question:

Yes, I still want to be a journalist.

I still believe in the adventurous parts of this job: the travelling, the interesting people you meet and that it can change things in a positive way! Cultural Studies IV has helped me to realize this.

So I can only think about one negative point, and that is the time. 8am? Terrible! A discussion at this time can be tough. But I guess that is a problem I have to deal with all by myself. I can’t blame anybody that I’m not a morning person ;)

Summing up some advice to the students of Mainz University:

Take this course! It’s really worth it!