Arizona State University

Arizona State University just launched a Bachelors of Arts degree in content creation. It’s not a scam. It’s the future of media work, and the real scam is other colleges and universities refusing to get with the times. The reality is, working in media isn’t what it was ten, twenty years ago. We have to train our students for the jobs that exist, not the ones that used to exist. Let's talk about it. My name is Jess, I'm a social media professor, researcher and teacher specialising in content creators and influencers, and chief of the world's first academic journal devoted to creators and influencers. I also created world's first collegiate classes in social media video production, or how to be a content creator. This, of course, is a full major. And what I mean by that being important to keep up with changing media landscapes. Let's look at the description to read the whole thing. You can pause to read the whole thing. I'm going to point out a couple of notable things. First, I wanna look at program coursework emphasizes content planning, video and podcast production, global perspectives and personal branding. You develop skills in multimedia production, social media strategy, audience analytics and integrated communication, combining creativity with data-driven insight; and you gain real-world know-how through experiences such as the Los Angeles Content Studio, brand content projects, media internships and content creation trips abroad. Upon graduation, you are equipped for entrepreneurial and professional roles in content strategy, digital influencing, brand development, social media management and audience engagement across industries. Okay, so let's take a look at some of the classes that you have to take in this major to successfully complete the degree. And I didn't mention this before, but it's worth noting that this Bachelor of Arts is housed in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. And that makes sense because mass communication programs, yes, I teach in a mass communication program myself. Are well equipped for this modern media landscape. And this major is blending lots of different formally discrete disciplines such as journalism, strategic communication, social media, digital media and film production. You also see communicating visually, which is what social media is. You see media ethics, you see media law, you see entrepreneurship. Also freelance and contract work in media, which is so important, like reading a contract and knowing how taxes work and this type of stuff. And of course, content creation skills. Content creation skills being the technical video audio production. I really wanna commend my friends over at the Cronkite School because this really is the future of media. I have been in so many rooms over the years where universities and faculty are so, so resistant to get with the times. And frankly, more colleges and universities do not have programs like this is actually a massive disservice to students in the realities they will have post graduation, especially if they want to work in media. And before the haters come to the comments, the whole thing, some jobs my students in my own content creation class have gone on to be are social media manager for minor league baseball teams. One has gone on to be an editor for a YouTube channel with over a million subscribers. One of my former students is an influencer that I cannot name because of FERPA. I have also had students go on to manage social media for entertainment media for television channels, for streamers. A Bachelor's in content creation is not just getting on the internet and blogging. It is learning how to survive the media ecosystem and the various types of jobs that come with it. Let me know what questions or comments you have down below.