Creative media and future journalism students now have access to Australia’s most sophisticated and current media production facilities, with the launch of Y3A’s Futures Lab on Wednesday night.

The lab was launched with a discussion on “Disruption in the media industry”, moderated by Catharine Lumby and featuring a panel of industry partners, including Mikey Robins, Media Watch’s Paul Barry, NineMSN‘s Hal Crawford and BuzzFeed Australia’s Simon Crerar.

“Traditional media outlets are actually in some ways shrinking, while the amount of journalism is actually growing,” said Professor John Simons, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts. “What we’re really trying to do here is to address issues of the employability of advanced journalists in this new situation. My aim, and it’s always been my aim, is that in a couple of years time, people will be pitching out for jobs in the media in Australia and people will be saying, oh, she’s done the Macquarie course. That’s where we want to be.”

The Futures Lab allows students to produce content in a real-time environment that mirrors industry standards. It is a large-scale online and social media production facility that works with the same technology systems as Channel 9, the ABC and SBS.

“This represents the most significant investment in online media production to date by an Australian university,” said Associate Professor and Head of Department, Mark Evans.

The launch was co-sponsored by The Walkley Foundation.

Find out more about the Master of Creative Media and Master of Future Journalism courses.