In Focus – Mittweida Media Forum opens

“You know, of course, how high the bar is set.” – With a twinkle in his eye, Rector Professor Volker Tolkmitt encouraged the student organisers of the Mittweida Media Forum this morning as they opened their conference. Professor Markus Heinker, Dean of the Faculty of Media Sciences, confirmed: “We can do everything in Mittweida, except keep it small.”

Indeed: the best way to experience what it’s like when Mittweida’s media students bring their industry to campus is to visit the Herbert E. Graus Studio and the exhibition spaces and showrooms at the university’s Centre for Media and Social Work.

Under the slogan “in focus”, the Media Forum offers two days of keynote speeches, talks and Q&As on current developments in the media world, whether on influencer marketing, audio tech innovations, streaming formats or Virtual Production. In the Recruiting Lounge, running alongside the programme, students will have the chance to strike up conversations with potential employers via speed-dating sessions.

This is likely not the first time that the question of the future of the dual broadcasting system in Germany has featured on the agenda of a media forum. The high-profile discussion on this topic – featuring, amongst others, ARD Chairman Professor Kai Gniffke and the Head of the Saxon State Chancellery, Oliver Schenk – will round off the first day of the conference from 5 pm onwards – and is relevant and engaging even for those outside the media industry, as it has once again been announced that the broadcasting licence fee is to be increased, as reported last week. Like all events from the Herbert E. Graus Studio, the discussion will be streamed live.