The closure of a few print newspapers, such as the country’s oldest newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, Kosmo!, Tamil Nesan, and the latest one, The Edge Financial Daily, revealed the ugly truth of the print media industry. It is a crisis that has been going on in the media industry even way before the pandemic.  

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The retrenchment exercise practiced by several media organizations, such as Media Prima and the Star Media group, where a number of its employees are being laid off, has also scared and worried the media graduates and students who were meant to be the successors of the industry. 

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The issue above was then discussed in a forum entitled  ‘Journalism Student Colloquium: Adapting to the New Norm’ by four panellists from their respective universities, Izzul Hatimi Azram of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Arisha Mahazir of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Fancy Anastasia Joenan of Universitas Binus Indonesia (BINUS), Prabowo Wisnu Dwiyono Asmoro of Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia (UPI) last December. 

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“The media industry is going through kind of a drought which as we can see, people are being laid off and companies are being downsized as well. So, it causes a lack of capacity for us, the future media practitioners, and it gives me a reason to stay away from it,” Izzul Hatimi Azram gave his thought on the issue. 

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With a great number of media students waiting in line to join their preferred media organizations after graduating, it has created a heated competition among them.

 

The freshly graduated media students do not only need to compete for the already limited capacity and spots in the media industry with each other, but also those who are unemployed graduates and the retrenched media practitioners who are looking for a new place to start over.   

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Therefore, to be on the lead in terms of job admission, media students need to ensure that they have what employers seek in recruiting employees. In other words, you need to be ahead of everyone in terms of individuals skills and values.  

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The spots and vacancies in the media industry might be rather limited, but the versatility of most media students in terms of creative writing, editing, and most importantly, communication skills are among the aspects that  are highly valued and needed in most industries. 

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“We need to be more creative. Do not just focus on the journalism or writing, but instead, please expand more on your skills and connections. We can hope to be a journalist, but do not put too much hope. Work hard and grow yourself and please believe that you can do so much more than just one thing,” said Arisha Mahazir. 

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How about the future then? Are they ‘in’ or ‘out’ of the media industry? Apparently, all these students shared quite the same thought. Even though they are media students, it does not mean they need to be in the designated industry as apparently, there are plenty of other choices. 

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“In Indonesia, as the digital media is booming and growing here, there are more professions related to the media that can be filled in by the media students such as content writers.

 

“However, in my view, being a content writer, it does not fully carry out the duties and basics of a journalist because they are likely to engage and market a product,” said Wisnu on the job vacancies for media students in Indonesia.  

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“I do not really want to enter an industry which is very volatile and could go down at any moment. I want a job with more job security. However, as a journalist, we do not have much of that, and also a low pay, though it might depend on where we work,” said Izzul. 

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“I am still clueless, but I have the idea. Actually, I do not look forward into getting into big media organizations such as Astro, Media Prima and Bernama like all my friends do.

 

“Instead, I am more looking forward to expanding my entrepreneurship skill such as opening my own music studio, maybe?” Arisa noted her future planning decision, which is quite different than what she is majoring in today.   

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On contrary, despite the current situation of the pandemic, Fancy from across the border, found herself still wanting to be a part of the media industry.  

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“Back then in my childhood, I was aware of the poor quality of most television content here as people really like to watch controversial issues and there is just a bit of educational content.  

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“So, starting from there, I already paced myself to be the quality fixer for media in Indonesia. Maybe I can work as a content creator or director in a media company,” Fancy noted on her plan to improve the quality of content of the media industry in Indonesia.  

 

Even though the future of media students, may be uncertain as we do not really know what the future holds, however, what we can do is, to be well-prepared with everything.  

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We need to build ourselves for the future, as at the end of the day, no matter what courses we took in university, all that matters is the individual skillset and values that we can show to our future employers.