For people who are keen on staying updated with the latest happenings and willing to stay on their toes, the media has various career options to offer. However, with each medium, be it print, television, or digital media, there are certain implications attached, which one must be aware of before choosing to enter the media as a professional. So, we bring to you the nuances of a career in the media from the perspective of an active media professional who has been a part of the industry for close to two decades, and what digital media jobs can offer you.
For people who are keen on staying updated with the latest happenings and willing to stay on their toes, the media has various career options to offer. However, with each medium, be it print, television, or digital media, there are certain implications attached, which one must be aware of before choosing to enter the media as a professional. So, we bring to you the nuances of a career in the media from the perspective of an active media professional who has been a part of the industry for close to two decades, and what digital media jobs can offer you.
The mass media remains a thrilling and exciting career avenue for people who have an inclination toward it. The emergence of social media and technology has limited the role of media, but the industry still offers a variety of career prospects for people who want to contribute to bringing a change in society. Previously there used to be broadly three avenues - television, print, and radio - for people planning to pursue a career in the media.
However, for the past few years, digital media has emerged strong and most mainstream newspapers and TV channels have strengthened their websites to reach a wider audience. As a result, students pursuing a course in media studies have multiple new-age options to choose from, depending on their interests.
Until a few years back, there were hardly any professional courses to pursue media studies, but in the last twenty years, premier universities have started offering graduate and postgraduate programs in media studies, be it in journalism, public relations, advertising, and the like. In fact, several universities and colleges that specialise in media studies have opened, and are doing really well in terms of industry repute.
While the medium can be selected later, most media institutes prepare students in a way such that the latter get exposed to all the different branches of the media. If one starts early and is clear about pursuing a career in the media, then Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communication, or Bachelor’s in Multimedia And Mass Communication (the nomenclature may vary with the institution), might be a good course, to begin with. However, even if you have done your bachelor’s in some other subject, you can always pursue a postgraduate diploma or degree course to give a head start to your career in the media.
A student should ideally make a choice about which particular field of the media they want to get into during the course of their study. I have observed in my career of almost two decades, that the glamour associated with a career as a television anchor/video jockey, looks alluring to a large number of students but, it is always advisable to do what is of genuine interest to you. For example, if you like writing and are good at it, you may look at joining print media, and if you are more inclined towards fieldwork, you may opt for reporting in any medium.
It is important that you do internships alongside your course of study, to learn the basics of the field, as it will come in handy during the job.
Let us now understand a few important nuances related to the popular forms of media.
While radio as a news medium is diminishing, people interested in it can still work for radio channels that have a news bulletin. However, this requires knowledge of scriptwriting and since there are no visuals in radio, the presenter must be able to write the script in a way that the listener is able to visualise it.
There are a lot of options to choose from if you are planning to have a career in the media. While in this article, we have broadly touched on the different types of media, there are at least 5-6 different career opportunities in each medium. In our upcoming articles, we shall talk about each medium and the kind of jobs it offers in more detail. If you enjoy keeping track of the news and are willing to work in a pacy environment, there is no dearth of opportunities in the media.
The author is Editor with a leading English newspaper, with close to two decades of experience of working in the media, and wishes to remain anonymous.
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