Don’t badmouth my media studies degree

As we all know some degrees are subject to criticism far more than others. This particularly applies to any kind of Arts or Humanities degree, with Media being one of the most heavily criticised. Unfortunately I fall into this category as I chose to study a specified media-based course titled ‘Society, Culture and Media’ meaning my course is subject to all the criticism of a standard media course, with the added bonus of not having people understand what it actually is.

In short it involves situating media theory in an interdisciplinary context of other subjects, such as sociology and politics, which in turn shape and effect media on a global scale. Despite this overlapping, it is never taken as seriously as the other humanities subjects that it references, and that’s, frankly, a joke. 

brb just going to do some coursework

Some people have developed the notion that all we do is watch films for our cop out degree. Yes we do watch films. Yes watching films is often part of our course, and yes this does mean sometimes instead of attending a lecture or seminar we end up going to a screening of a film. This isn’t to say however that the course is easy and all we do is watch films, in fact we have to study the same level of theory and apply it to our essays in the same manner as any humanities subject, the only difference being that we have to watch and re-watch films many times as part of our research.

If anything this makes the subject more labour-intensive as this is a lengthy process, and by no means an enjoyable one. Simply spectating is an unaffordable luxury replaced by scrutiny of every frame, sound clip and even choice of colour grading. These specific details usually have to be observed first-hand as it’s ludicrous to expect every single film in existence to have had extensive analysis done in every textbook available, which is why such a heavy emphasis is placed on original independent thought, observation and interpretation. Because of this, it’s also one of the few subjects that you can’t just cram in the night before and hope something out of a textbook or study guide will stick in your head and be enough to keep you afloat.

Contrary to popular opinion we do know how to read

So if this much work goes into it, then why is there so much snobbery regarding studying media subjects? Is it due to the perception of it being a degree with limited career prospects? Well this must be some mistake as media is one of the fastest growing industries that plays an imperative role in modern life and is consumed on a daily basis by millions. Despite this it is still written off as being an unemployable degree by many, who then go home and watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones or partake in a Netflix binge, committing the ultimate act of hypocrisy by indulging in the very industry they demean.

If anyone truly thinks that studying media or wishing to work in such an industry really is a waste, then by all means I welcome them to get rid of their TV, newspapers and internet and then we’ll talk about how unnecessary it is. In addition to this, studying media prepares you for a variety of jobs that aren’t even directly related to media production, such as jobs in PR consultancies, marketing organisations and even government related positions due many of the skills you gain being based around critical analysis, taking creative and independent approaches to tasks, and a broad commercial and cultural awareness of the media and creative industries.

There is hard work involved and it will be worth it