Graduate Careers AustraliaJournalism
Media StudiesWhy Media Studies? The media are everywhere. They feed us fact and fantasy, ideas and information, sign and symbol, truth and lies. Their influence is profound, and, ideally, painless. They are instruments of social and political power. They are peddlers of gossip and trivia. They shape our ideas, our identities, our language and our cultures. They define and re-define our experience, our memories, our values and our beliefs. We refer, and defer, to them on matters of justice, commerce, disaster, innovation, morality, community, triumph and celebrity. In an endless ‘chicken and egg tumble’, we are the media and the media are us. Media Studies is the systematic examination of both the traditional media (such as radio, newspapers and television) and the newer media (such as the internet and electronic games). As a discipline it seeks to develop an informed and critical understanding of the ways in which the media influence social, political and economic areas of life, as well as the way they shape our perceptions, attitudes, desires and behaviour. It also explores and questions historical, political, industrial, cultural and aesthetic aspects of media, through a variety of media forms, theories and contexts. It examines how different media are produced and how they are used, received and understood by different audiences. There may also be a focus on how media products are constructed in response to a range of technological, institutional, creative and cultural conditions. The Media Industry The media industry is effectively a global conglomerate, typically characterised as killingly competitive, but profitable, with luck, beyond your wildest dreams. This is partly true. World-wide, the industry comprises multinational corporations, various subsidiaries, franchises, government agencies, companies of many sizes in many countries and countless small businesses. Its people range from solitary creative geniuses working out of their bedrooms, to immensely powerful business moguls whose decisions can affect thousands of people at one go. In general, the media industry makes media products that people want to buy. Media products include newspapers, news bulletins, television programs, films, advertisements, DVDs, videos, press releases, magazines, media training, web sites, podcasts and electronic games. It is a technology-based industry, which means, increasingly, digital technology. Download a complete copy of Career View on Media Studies below. Career View on Media Studies is part of the Career View series produced by Career Development and Employmentat Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. While the booklet was originally developed for a New Zealand audience, we believe that graduates in Australia will also find the information within it relevant and useful. Check out the excellent resources available on the Victoria University of Wellington's Careers homepage at www.vuw.ac.nz/st_services/careers |
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