Machine learning, the mass phenomenon of e-sports, and media experiences in cars—these are just a few of the topics of the digital future discussed in Munich at the 6th Media Innovation Day of the Bavarian State Office for New Media (BLM). Companies and startups presented how media can be reinvented in front of around 200 visitors at the Google Development Center.
Siegfried Schneider, President of the BLM, highlighted at Media Innovations 2019 how and why the state center has been involved as a classic regulator in the field of innovation for many years:
“In the competition for listeners, users and viewers, only those who help shape the digital transformation can survive.”
For the media landscape to develop further, more than just one discipline is needed:
“For ideas to become innovations, journalists, technicians, and programmers must work together.”
In order to further optimise this networking and make Bavaria even more visible as a media location, Medien.Bayern GmbH will be founded with the support of the Bavarian State Government. This will in future coordinate the activities of the Munich Media Days, the Bavarian Media Network and the Media Lab Bayern bundles.
Hype or Hope
A highlight of the Media Innovation Day were two pitch sessions by young founders: The eight current fellows from Media Lab Bayern ranged from a startup developing an AI hybrid platform for curating video, text, or images, to a social media platform for online gamers, to a social media management system from a team in London. In a second session, established startups presented their successful ideas.
Two storytelling masterclasses also provided even more practical insight. Rob Szymoniak from Podcastmania spoke about the strengths of docutainment for audio, while Christina Metallinos and Katrin Pötzsch from Bayerischer Rundfunk's News-WG demonstrated how concise stories work on Instagram.
Hype or hope—what do all these new media trends mean for journalism? Those who have the courage to rethink media and drive innovation have a future, concludes moderator Richard Gutjahr.
