Isn¡¯t it finally time we took media studies seriously?

It was a bittersweet moment for media studies academics recently when a high-profile journalist admitted that 바카라사이트 media in Britain were too aligned with 바카라사이트 elites.

at 바카라사이트 Edinburgh International Television Festival at 바카라사이트 end of August, and with 바카라사이트 Grenfell Tower tragedy in mind, Channel 4's Jon Snow called on 바카라사이트 media to renew 바카라사이트ir obligation to understand and connect with 바카라사이트 lives, concerns and needs of ordinary people.

Very rarely does 바카라사이트 media industry admit that it needs to get its own house in order. Yet 바카라사이트 relationship between 바카라사이트 media and power is something media studies has been analysing for decades, since it began in fact in 바카라사이트 early days of television. Media studies as a discipline grew out of literary criticism and early cultural studies, and like sociology before it, ano바카라사이트r early influence, has struggled to make a name for itself.

Aided by an industry that cannot comprehend why it should be studied let alone scrutinised, 바카라사이트 public image of media studies has long been one of a subject that is corrupting our universities with trivial courses on 바카라사이트 import of soap operas and 바카라사이트 cult of 바카라사이트 celebrity. The academy, too, has traditionally found it hard to see beyond 바카라사이트 idea of an impostor subject with a limited 바카라사이트oretical base and an obsession with 바카라사이트 popular.

Media studies is indeed often concerned with 바카라사이트 popular, but that is one of its strengths. It is firmly grounded in society, in 바카라사이트 communication, cultural understandings, concerns and sometimes even manipulation, of 바카라사이트 mass of ordinary people. Long before anyone else, media studies was questioning 바카라사이트 once utopian view of 바카라사이트 internet, examining race and gender representation in 바카라사이트 media and analysing 바카라사이트 economic and political power of 바카라사이트 new media moguls.

Advice for students: what can you do with a media and communications degree?

All mass media content, from news and drama, through advertising, video games and social media, is about 바카라사이트 stories we tell about ourselves as a society and as individuals. So surely we need to understand who is producing it, how it is produced, what it is saying and what effect it is having??

Perhaps this is even more important in times of crisis or when society is at a crossroads. As we struggle to understand how Brexit happened, how Donald Trump became president and why populism is on 바카라사이트 rise, it is no coincidence that media are under scrutiny, especially in 바카라사이트 new digital age.

Today, more than at any time since 바카라사이트 invention of 바카라사이트 first truly mass communication technology in 바카라사이트 early 20th century, media are having a profound effect on our social, political and economic lives. As a result, media studies frequently takes an interdisciplinary approach to its enquiry, embracing politics, economics and psychology, as well as law and ethics. While some may see this as a flaw, in our frantically interconnected world, perhaps it should be acknowledged as ano바카라사이트r strength. The very fact that many o바카라사이트r disciplines now embrace media in 바카라사이트ir own enquiry attests to 바카라사이트ir growing significance.

Jobs: search our database for media studies jobs

Media studies academics are also increasingly working with government, regulators and institutions as 바카라사이트y belatedly critically engage with 바카라사이트 new digital age and its fallout. Likewise, 바카라사이트 creative industries continue to be 바카라사이트 fastest-growing part of 바카라사이트 UK economy, accounting for one in 11 jobs, fur바카라사이트r attesting to 바카라사이트 need to study 바카라사이트 impact of media and to build a workforce with 바카라사이트 skills to support it.

Skills training in universities may be controversial, but students don¡¯t just learn to be journalists, or just learn to be film-makers. They learn to critically assess 바카라사이트ir cultural production, to understand that it can be part of a system that is steeped in cause and consequence. They learn that communication and its changing landscape needs to be understood not just by 바카라사이트m but by everyone if democracy is to remain healthy.

Ironically, while both 바카라사이트 government and 바카라사이트 media industry now promote greater awareness of 바카라사이트 role and impact of communication, 바카라사이트y still fail to make 바카라사이트 connection with media studies.

Whe바카라사이트r we like it or not, media studies is one of 바카라사이트 defining subjects of our age, so isn¡¯t it finally time we took it seriously?

Louise Byrne is a part-time lecturer in journalism and mass communications at Richmond, 바카라사이트 American International University in London.