Why Media Students and Graduates Are Falling Behind in the Age of Social Media

by Evans Ijakaa

“Which do you think is the most useless major?”

I have watched countless vox pop videos where communications repeatedly emerges as the default response.

“What do they even study, how to communicate?”

People’s attitudes toward the media are not the main problem. The main problem is whether media and media education are actually doing something that matters in the world.

The Digital News Report (2023) shows that traditional media, especially television and print, is in gradual decline, a trend that continues to raise serious concerns about the long-term sustainability of media houses. PESTEL factors, particularly technological disruption, have accelerated a structural shift toward digital and mobile-first media environments, reshaping journalism and the newsroom landscape.

Despite this observation, media education has not adapted in ways that allow media students or graduates to actually stand out.

The Technicality Trap

For decades, a “successful” media student was defined by technical proficiency. If you could operate a DSLR, edit a clean sequence on Premiere Pro or host a lively radio show, you were considered industry-ready.

Today, that logic seems to be collapsing as graduates enter a market flooded with content creators, self-taught multimedia producers, algorithm-savvy influencers, talented podcasters and even generative AI tools capable of producing “cinematic” edits in seconds. Radio is a perfect example; many stations no longer require a media degree. If you can keep people hooked and have influence on social media, you can be a radio presenter. While these presenters excel on air, outside the studio they often fail to act like media practitioners, as they instead continuously chase clout to stay relevant.

A year after graduation, many media students are still chasing internships, or worse, defining their expertise around “content production” or “social media management,” skills easily replicated by an influencer with just an iPhone and a data bundle. This is what I call the Technicality Trap.

Universities have focused so intensely on tools that they have neglected the mind behind them. Ironically, curriculum reviews are now doubling down on “practicality” and content creation in an attempt to help students compete with influencers, despite the fact that these skills are already widely accessible outside formal education.

The original media student was rooted in originality, strategic thinking and intellectual precision. In an age of disinformation and information saturation, credibility are the currencies that truly matter in the media landscape. Not virality.

Content Creator vs. Media Practitioner

With the continued overreliance on social media for information, what distinguishes a media graduate from a content creator? What analytical value does a degree add? By competing on technical skill alone, media students have entered a race to the bottom.

A content creator’s North Star is engagement, sometimes even bordering on engagement farming.

A media practitioner’s North Star must be accountability, grounded in verification, context and public interest.

A serious communications graduate should be trained to work with influencers, not compete with them, especially in marketing communications and PR.

Why Influencer Journalism Is Failing

The rise of digital departments in media houses is such a great development. However, some organisations now openly prioritise influencers for their social media savviness, often at the expense of journalistic discipline. Some media outlets even publish content that seems more suited for entertainment than information. Stories about what people are wearing in the office today, or “who’s the coolest employee this week.” While these features may attract clicks, being on a digital platform does not change the fundamental responsibility of a media house: to inform the public. Trying to mimic influencers in order to hook audiences confuses the role of journalism. An influencer is an influencer; a media institution must remain a media institution.

A late-2024 Pew study found that 37% of adults under 30 get their news from influencers, yet 77% of those influencers have no journalism training. This incentive structure rewards attention, not accountability, putting the public interest at risk.

Tracie Powell, founder and CEO of The Pivot Fund, warns that by 2026, journalism will look back on its influencer obsession the same way it now views the infamous “pivot to video” as a costly distraction from building real community infrastructure. She urges media institutions to move away from platform dependence and instead invest in community sovereignty: prioritising trust over reach, protecting vulnerable communities from surveillance and harassment, and funding hyperlocal newsrooms, not just for content, but for relationships.

What a Media Degree Should Produce

When a student completes a four-year media degree only to find themselves competing with a TikToker for views, the degree has failed them. A university education should not reduce a media student to a content creator chasing engagement metrics. A media student is a scholar of media systems.

Content creation, when pursued as a hobby or a complementary skill, is not the problem. The problem begins when it is merged with journalism itself. Journalism is not defined by posting, editing or aesthetic polish; it is defined by inquiry, verification, context and prioritisation of the public interest. A media degree should therefore produce graduates who understand why stories matter before they ever decide how to tell them. They should be trained to interrogate power and systems, rather than obsess over aesthetics and engagement.

In this sense, media students are not failing because of social media. They are failing because social media has exposed gaps that were already embedded within media education. Platforms did not create shallow thinking; they simply rewarded it. A media degree that does not cultivate analytical depth and ethical clarity leaves graduates unequipped to operate in an information environment defined by manipulation, engagement farming and speed.

If media education is to stay relevant, it must stop producing graduates who compete with influencers or content creators for visibility. Instead, the system should be able to produce analytical thinkers, credible journalists and strategic communication practitioners. Graduates who understand the structure of public discourse. Graduates who can strategise, analyse and question everything. I don’t think any algorithm can match that. Without this, our profession risks a future without scholars.