Things To Know Before Choosing A Career In The Media

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.

Educational Requirements

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.

Digital Media

• Good Space For Writers: There are many web portals that hire for writing in English and vernacular languages, and one may always start as a trainee with any of them. If writing is your strength, the digital medium is the way to go since one can write in long formats due to the availability of ample space.
• Learn On The Job: Basic knowledge of the language and passion for writing is all you need to begin your career. As far as domain knowledge is concerned, you learn it on the job. For example, if you are asked to write on health education, you will learn about it while meeting and interacting with experts in the sector.
• Do Background Research Before Creating A Report: Before getting onto any assignment, you must do background research to ensure you ask the right questions. The quality of your news report depends largely on the kind of questions you ask, and this is something that comes with experience. Since digital is still a growing medium, there is a lot to learn.

Print Media

Print Media Is Still The Most Trusted Form Of Media

• Oldest and Most Trusted: It is the oldest and most trusted way of news, and people who like reading and want to remain aware of current affairs still prefer newspapers over any other medium. They say if you can work with a newspaper, you can work with any other medium of the news.
• Begin As An Intern: Since getting a job with newspapers can be difficult, it might be a good idea to begin as an intern and work hard during that training. Most freshers are absorbed into a full-time job after the internship.
• Good Medium To Network: Working in the media is a lot about networking, and the print medium gives a good opportunity to do that. The journalist doesn’t need to rush to get details while doing a story for the newspaper, which may be the case for TV or digital media.

Television

• Preferred Choice Among Youngsters: In the recent past, TV news channels have emerged as the fastest way to access news, but have now been overtaken by social media. Most news channels have adapted well, and have started disseminating news through social media. This has made TV media a preferred choice for youngsters looking for a career in the media. While the impact of news running on TV is immediate, this also creates chances of errors.
• Ability To Absorb Pressure: To work in TV, one must develop the confidence to make correct decisions in split seconds. The job requires one to pay a lot of attention, and round-the-clock awareness. There is indeed a lot of pressure, and one must be willing to absorb the pressure if one wants to work in TV.
• Confidence Is Key: While glamour is an attraction, one must be confident enough to tackle any question in front of the camera. That confidence comes from knowledge, and knowledge comes through reading. Having a broad knowledge of current affairs is absolutely essential to working in TV.

Radio

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.