Yes I am a fan of cheesy puns if you couldn’t tell and I understand that this is one of my worst ones. But honestly it’s about as accurate as they come because when we went to MTV networks, we were greeted by not one Media Studies grad but two, and two other recent UVA grads, and another UVA grad from back in the 80s (back when MTV was, believe it or not, mostly music videos). It was a huge opportunity.
It’s pretty astonishing having that great of a job network at a major media corporation as enormous and as famous as Viacom (MTV’s parent company). We got to hear some fantastic stories, ask tons of questions about everything from TRL to the work environment and even had a couple of drag queens run through the lobby (apparently they’re filming a new season of RuPaul’s drag race on LOGO).
One of my favorite portions of the presentation was the pro-social causes that the network supports. Among those is a show that demonstrates the academic background of artists like Ludacris and Keri Hilson, both straight-A students back in their younger days. This particular project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.
Fellow major Matt and I were disappointed to hear that our favorite program on the station TRL (Total Request Live) was not coming back, but it was still an interesting opportunity for us, especially Matt who is incredibly interested in digital media and music.
Viacom is also the parent company for Nickelodeon, so I’ve included one of my personal favorite music videos and a clip from my favorite show on Nickelodeon. If you’d like me to add one of your favorites, leave a comment and I’ll add it on.
UVA Media Studies in NYC 