Editor’s note: Chloe Huckins is studying in Austria this summer as part of a class at the UO School of Journalism and Communication. She worked as an intern this past academic year in Public Affairs Communications and is now writing about her experiences overseas.
During our last week in Vienna, we were lucky enough to visit three media agencies through the journalism program. These privileged excursions offered a glimpse inside Austria’s media industry and included tours of Red Bull Media House, FM4 radio station and ORF television studios.
Before our visit to Austria’s Red Bull Media House, my perception of Red Bull consisted of attractive women handing out small energy drinks from can-shaped backpacks at music festivals. During our meeting with the editor in chief of Red Bulletin magazine, he laughed and said, “People do not need what is in this little can.” He explained that energy drink sales fund the agency’s true pursuit: media production.
From movies to music to magazines, Red Bull Media incorporates every medium of the modern age bound together by a passion for extreme sports. We eagerly pawed through Red Bulletin magazines from countries all over the world and were allowed to take home our favorites.
At FM4 we were greeted by a man named Christoph, who herded us into a conference room, kicked off his flip-flops, crossed his legs and told us to ask him anything about radio. Christoph provided a fascinating perspective on American media, which according to him presents a threat to cultural development.
“Any song that comes from America is instantly popular,” he said. “The other stations play it just because it is American.” FM4 strives to provide an alternative to the mainstream playlist. “Whatever we play has to fit our tastes,” Christoph said.
He led us into the small broadcast studio and immediately began blasting a German rap song with a distinct reggae beat. Even professor Laufer began nodding along. I was surprised that none of the curse words had been edited out, and Christoph responded with a smirk, “Yes, we have no laws against artists expressing themselves.”
Feeling disillusioned with the American music industry, we stumbled back out onto the cobblestone streets bearing some complimentary FM4 stickers, temporary tattoos and a few new favorite tunes.
The next day we arrived at ORF television studios after a long hike up to the headquarters on a hill overlooking the city. A seasoned anchorman regaled us with news war stories, including the time he spent two weeks camped outside of the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina and watched other news anchors being helicoptered in from hotels in neighboring cities.
“In America you know about every love affair of every senator,” he joked. “Here, that is unthinkable.”
He described the differences between the European and American news systems, noting that American news is inwardly focused. Indeed, all of us realized that we had heard more about conflict in Syria, Israel and Egypt during our four-week stay than we ever had over an entire term back home.
During our tour of the facilities we were allowed to watch the behind-the-scenes action of the 5 p.m. news broadcast. Six men sat in the control room staring intently at 12 different screens with their fingers poised over red and green buttons as a robotic voice counted down to every scene change. Within 10 minutes, the anchorwoman bade her audience “Guten Abend” and the men got up and quietly exited the control room.
Thoroughly overwhelmed with career aspirations, our time in Vienna was quickly coming to a close. Within two days, everyone would be on a plane headed back home or continuing to adventure through Europe. What we had gained in these four short weeks was an experience few would soon forget and a set of skills we couldn’t have learned in a classroom.
This program offered the amazing challenge of practicing journalism in a foreign country, and I believe that many of us rose to the occasion. After struggling to conduct interviews in my second and even third language, stumbling through cultural differences and getting very lost many times — not to mention making friends with a wonderful group of students and professors — I feel more confident in my major, my career and my future.
So, here’s to the adventurer inside all of us. Prost!
(Bryan Cargill, Robert Wery and Riley Morales created this promotional video featuring this year’s team of student journalists in Vienna.)
―By Chloe Huckins, Public Affair Communications intern