unit 3 workbook
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Creative media sectorTRANSCRIPT
UNIT 3: THE CREATIVE MEDIA SECTOR
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What makes up the media industry?
The media industry covers a wide spectrum of companies that produce media products.
These could be radio or television programmes, newspapers or magazines, films, interactive
CD-ROMs/DVD’s, pod casts or websites, or even computer games.
The main media industry sectors
The main industry sectors can be categorised as:
Television Press Film Photo imaging
Radio Music Interactive media Advertising and marketing
The diagram below shows how the media products fit into these sectors:
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On the worksheet below, add the names of some of the products you have seen or heard
next to the industry sectors.
Media type Name of product
Radio Kerrang, Classical Fm, heart
Television BBC I Player OD , ITV Player OD, 4OD
Photo imaging Facebook, MSN, Newspaper
Press Newspaper, BBC, Newsround
Music ITunes, Kerrang, Viva
Interactive media Call of duty, Nutty professor, YouTube
Film Happy Gilmore, Waterboy, Metro
Advertising and Marketing Internet, magazines, newspaper
The size and shape of the media industry
The media industry is not just relevant in one country or one continent but across the whole
world. Many media companies operating in the UK are owned by parent companies in other
countries.
Look at some of Viacom’s brands, which of these have you heard of, read or watched?
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Think about the media industry in our local area. What types of media companies are
there? Fill in the table below with media companies in the Central Region.
Media industry sector Name of company
Television ITV Central, BBC
Radio Kerrang, beacon radio, heart
Press Express & Star- midland news association,
Chase post, chronicle, Chase post,
Burntwood, Birmingham post – Trinity
mirror Group.
Music Greenwood (Tiffany)
Photo imaging School Photographer
Advertising STRAIGHTFOWARD SOLUTIONS
THE OLD BYRE, PACKINGTON HAYES, LICHFIELD,
STAFFORDSHIRE, WS14 9PN
SERVICES INCLUDE: CREATIVE DESIGN,BRAND
IDENTITY,LITERATURE
Some of the companies you have listed above may have an influence on other parts of the
country, and some of them may belong to national companies.
PHM Productions is a media production company based in North Yorkshire. They are an
example of a small, independent media company. The majority of the media products they
produce are made for clients across the UK. They use their website to show clients what
they can do.
Look at the PMH Productions resume, to see their mission statement and information
about their client base.
The Cannock Chase Post & Burntwood Post are the leading newspapers in Cannock and Burntwood, with more readers than any other free weekly title within their distribution area.
The papers have been serving the community with strong localised news coverage and a reputation for editorial excellence for nearly 20 years.
They are one of the top sources of information in the area, with comprehensive advertising platforms such as motors, entertainments, classified and recruitment.
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They are owned by the media group Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited.
http://www.trinitymirror-midlands.co.uk/index.html
Structure and ownership of media companies
Media companies can be classified as:
Private companies In the UK, this is usually a company that is owned by an
individual or a group. They need to make available only
limited information about their operations to competitors.
Public companies In the UK, this is usually a company that has shares traded
on the stock exchange. They report on their business
operations to their shareholders and to Companies House.
Publically owned companies These are companies owned by national, regional or local
government.
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Cross-media companies These are companies, such as Viacom, that own media
operations as well as other diverse companies. Viacom have
interests in film, music libraries and music programming.
They also run cable channels for children’s programming.
Until recently they owned the Blockbuster chain of shops.
They were able to release their films, produced by
Paramount Pictures, through this outlet and so saved money
on distribution costs.
Companies House is an organisation that registers new companies, keeps records of existing
companies and makes this information available to the public
News Corporation is another example of a cross-media company.
Identify what media products each of these News Corporation brands produces.
Identify one other brand they produce and add it to the table.
Produces Movies: Such as Hot tub time machine, Avatar.
Channel that shows fox’s movies that they have made.
A company that sells books.
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Sky is a landline provider, broadband server.
Is a national newspaper company.
How could the ownership of media products influence how you think about media issues?
How might you be influenced to buy a product –or think about the news –if all of the
information came from just one source.
For example, a newspaper is owned by the same person who owns a satellite television
company. This person also owns a commercial radio station and has linked these to
websites giving 24 hour coverage of news across the world. How much influence do you
think this person has if they decide to favour one political party? How much influence do
you think they would have on sales of one brand of a particular product?
Vertical integration is the term applied to
companies with a common owner that are linked
along the production-distribution chain. The
companies a can co-operate to produce the
materials needed for production, undertake the
production process and distribute the end
product. This provides a reliable workflow, with
increased profits for the company. An example of
this is Apple, who design their computer
hardware, operating systems and much of the
software used in their products. They have also
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opened Apples stores for retail sales and Apple iTunes. Example: American Apparel own
companies all along their production process.
Horizontal integration is the term used when media companies own several producers of
products in one sector. An example of this is EMI, who are the world’s largest independent
music company. They own several separate record producers and music publishing
companies.
http://www.emimusic.com/about/
Job roles in the media industry
Job roles in the media industry range from technical and creative to administrative and
financial. Each job role plays an important part in the production of a successful media
product – and ultimately in keeping the media company in business. Media products are
generally made by teams of people, and every team member has a role to play.
To understand the variety of roles better, first decide on a sector to investigate. You may
have a particular interest in one of the sectors –perhaps you are planning a career in it. You
may have already done some in depth research. Think about the job roles in your chosen
sector, such as:
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Area Job roles
Technical e.g. camera or sound operator, lighting technician
Creative e.g. director, lighting cameraperson, journalist
Editorial e.g. editor, sub-editor, sound or vision editor
Managerial e.g. producer, location manager
Sales and marketing e.g. sales manager, telesales
Administration e.g. production assistant, secretary
Financial e.g. accountant, payroll clerk
Homework: Watch a DVD or TV programme and make a note of some of the job roles that
appear in the credits. Some of these you might not have heard of. Use the Internet to find
out what these jobs are.
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Professional Working Practices
People working in the media industry have to work to professional standards. These are
referred to as codes of practice, and though they are not generally compulsory, everyone
should follow them.
Here is an example from the press sector’s code of practice:
http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=174
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The BBC’s editorial guidelines are outlined as:
www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines
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The advertising code of practice states:
www.asa.org.uk
These codes of practice help media practitioners to keep within guidelines of taste, decency
and truthfulness.
There are legal restrictions that workers in the media must observe. You cannot simply say
what you like, go where you like or record what you like.
You must carefully consider the legal issues such as:
Libel Law: libel is the defamation (damaging) of someone’s character using written words.
Slander Law: slander is the defamation of someone’s character, using spoken words.
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Can you find some examples of both of these instances?
MP George Galloway has won £150,000 in libel damages from the Daily
Telegraph over claims he received money from Saddam Hussein's regime in
Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/4061165.stm
Slander is the spoken or transitory form of defamation of character, a legal term that refers to a
falsehood presented as true which could harm the reputation of a person or entity.
Race Discrimination Act – these statements are from the Commission for Racial equality:
Racist incidents, ranging from criminal harassment and abuse to physical violence, are
offences under criminal law.
Publishing and disseminating materials, such as leaflets and newspapers, that are likely to
incite racial hatred is also a criminal offence.
Racially offensive material in the media contravenes codes of practice. Complaints can be
made to the Press Complaints Commission or the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Complaints about racially offensive advertisements should be made to the Advertising
Standards authority.
Further information on Equality and Human Rights can be found at:
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
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Other legal restrictions you will encounter are:
Copyright: you must not use other peoples work and claim it as your own. If you want to use
someone else’s work, you must ask for written permission. You always need to be aware of the
issue of copyright, and how it impacts on the working life of a media professional.
Censorship: you have to abide by decisions of government on what you can print or report about
certain sensitive issues.
You have been asked by your manager to secretly record an interview and broadcast it on your radio
programme. The interview is with the leader of a group of extremists. What legal issues should you
consider?
7C Channel 4 : Rules of Practice and Procedure for Secret Filming and Recording for Channel 4
Programmes (November 2005) : 7C Channel 4 : Rules of Practice and Procedure for Secret Filming
and Recording for Channel 4 Programmes
Consider how your proposals will meet the requirements of Section 8.13 of the Code which
says that the material acquired through secret filming must be "necessary to the credibility
and authenticity" of a story which must itself be "prima facie in the public interest". In addition
there must be "reasonable grounds to suspect that further material evidence could be
obtained" by secret filming/recording. Your Commissioning Editor will discuss your proposals
with the Channel 4 lawyer and with his/her Editorial Head, where appropriate. Once
satisfied, the Commissioning Editor is responsible for making a written application to the
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Head of News & Current Affairs, or her appointee in her absence, for written approval. The
Stage I application, before it is approved and once it has been approved must be copied to
the lawyer advising and the Controller of Legal & Compliance if different.
Contracts, conditions and pay
There are a number of different types of contract offered to people working in the media industry:
Full-time permanent This type of contract provides work on a full-time basis,
with benefits, which could include a pension scheme, sick
pay, holiday entitlement or bonuses.
Part-time permanent This contract provides part-time working to an agreed
pattern, with benefits, which may be the same as those in
a full-time permanent contract.
Fixed-term A worker is hired to work on a particular project that lasts
for a limited time. For example, you might be hired as a
alighting technician for a television drama being shot on
location over three months.
Stringer This is where you are contracted on the basis of being
available at short notice to cover emerging stories. This
might be an article for a local newspaper, filming a football
match or recording an interview for radio.
Freelance This is one of the most common contracts in the media
industry. A freelancer works on a project in a role, such as
a journalist, for a contracted amount of time. Freelancers
can be working on a number of projects at the same time
for different clients.
The term ‘stringer’ originated in the newspaper industry, where journalists were employed to ‘string
words together’. They were paid according to the length of the articles they produced –as measured,
some claim, by a piece of string.
Working on a permanent contract provides stability for media workers. A fixed-term contract allows
them to experience working for different clients, with guaranteed work for a fixed term. The
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stringer is only given work when there is no one else available, so this is not regular employment.
Many stringers do this role as well as other jobs, which might not be in the media.
The freelance role is becoming the standard in the media industry. Freelancers have to find their
own work, control their own budgets and pay their own tax and national insurance. There is
generally no holiday entitlement or sick pay, so they only get paid when they are actually working.
Freelancers can be out of work for long periods, so they must maintain a wide circle of contacts, to
use when searching for work.
Work patterns in the media vary greatly. Sometimes you simply have to work until the job is done.
Some administrative jobs follow office hours, but a production assistant will be working alongside a
production crew, and will follow their work pattern. Location work, recording interviews, reporting
ongoing news and preparing advertising material may require long, unsociable hours. However, the
rewards of seeing your work in print, on the television or hearing your work on the radio are well
worth the long hours.
Getting a job in a media sector
Skills and qualifications
Many employers in the media industry look for people with formal qualifications. These are
not always qualifications in a media subject, thought they could be related to the subject,
such as English Literature if they are looking for writers or journalists. Potential employees
with experience of using media equipment as part of their course are more likely to be
shortlisted for an interview. Experience of working in a voluntary capacity, such as a
hospital radio or students newspaper, could be seen by a potential employer as an example
of good skills development and commitment.
Employers understand the value of part-time education, and you might be able to attend a
local college to gain further qualifications once you are employed.
Some sections of the media industry operate a ‘closed shop’, so you will need particular
qualifications to work in this area. One example is the newspaper industry, where you need
a qualification from the
National Council for the
Training of Journalists to
work as a journalist.
http://www.nctj.com/
Employees in the media
industry should also
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consider ongoing professional development. The nature of the industry means there are
constant changes to standards, techniques and technology, so even once you have a job,
training should not stop. The BBC offers ongoing training to its staff so that they can build
new skills and develop new roles.
It is unlikely that anyone taking aLevel2 qualification would be successful in their application
for a senior production or managerial role in the media industry. It would be better to take
on a lower role and then build up their skills in order to progress. Undertaking a Level 3 will
provide a higher level of knowledge, understanding and skills, but still may not be
appropriate for some media-related jobs.
There are a number of Universities offering media qualifications, often these can provide
valuable work-experience or work related activities, such as being involved in student radio
or newspapers.
If you want to work in the media industry, you should consider making contact with
potential employers to find out what they are looking for in media job applicants. Taking on
voluntary media jobs wherever possible will build on and demonstrate your media skills.
A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a useful marketing tool. A CV can demonstrate your commitment
to developing media skills by outlining all the projects you have undertaken. It also gives
you an opportunity to sell yourself to a potential employer or client.
Imagine a CV as a brochure all about you and your skills. What can you do that would make
you stand out from the other candidates? What can you offer an employer? What are your
strengths as a potential media employee? Maybe the way you present your CV could show
initiative (see http://issuu.com/).
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The CV should demonstrate your team-working skills – through your work on a media project or as a
member of an organisation. Employers do not know you or anything about you, so you must tell
them what you are good at, and how you can benefit their company.
Produce a CV, using word, that demonstrates your skills you have gained so far
Save the file as a .pdf
Open an account with Issuu.
Upload your CV
There are a number of trade unions that offer protection and advice to their members. It is no
longer necessary to belong to a union to work in any of the media sectors, but it can be beneficial to
have the strength of a union behind you when negotiating pay and conditions, or when you are in
dispute with your employer.
Open the file Support Media Organisations.pdf.
Transferable skills
People working in the media industry have a wide range of transferable skills – knowledge and
technical skills, for example, or commitment and efficiency. You will need knowledge and technical
skills in media production if you want to make media products and be committed to making these
products in the most efficient and cost effective way.
It is important to be reliable and punctual. Working in a media team requires you to be at the right
place at the right time.
It is important as a potential media worker that you have self-presentation skills. You will have to
pitch your ideas or discuss the finished product with a client, and you may have to give a
presentation in order to win a contract. You will certainly have to ‘sell’ yourself at an interview. All
of these require self-presentation skills.
You have been given instructions on how to get an address where you are to interview a famous
musician. The musician has only a ten minute window before they have to leave for a tour of the
USA. What would you do to ensure you have got to the correct address before they leave?
Methods of recruitment
The media industry uses a number of techniques to recruit staff. One technique is to advertise
media jobs in the nation press – the Media section of the Guardian, for example, published every
Monday. The paper provides several pages of media jobs and includes them on their website.
There are a number of media trade publications that have sections for jobs. Media Week is a
publication that specialises in keeping media professionals informed about events in the media.
They have a section of jobs in their magazine and on their website.
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Recruitment agencies tend to recruit for specialist areas – the television industry, for example.
Inspired Selection is an agency that specialises in recruiting both creative and administrative staff
for the publishing industry.
http://www.inspiredselection.com/
Media professionals find the Internet is a useful tool for job hunting. It provides instant
access to job details, pay and conditions, and job locations. You can quickly contact the
recruitment company or the potential employer to ask for further details, using email rather
than ‘snail mail’.
Sometimes, simply doing a good job will be a recommendation, so that a company might
approach a media professional directly. A media professional might also have built up a list
of personal contacts that they can refer to when looking for work. These contacts, too, need
evidence of projects the media professional has worked on and their standard of work.
Once you have a job in a media company, there is always the possibility of internal
promotion. The BBC has a policy of advertising internal job opportunities to staff before
advertising them externally. You need to show the transferable skills mentioned earlier if
you are to achieve internal promotion.
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Find three examples of advertisements for media jobs and identify:
What qualifications you need for the job
What the job involves
The contract being offered
The salary being offered
The location of the job (if any)
Summary
This booklet you have worked through will have covered all of the outcomes for this unit.
You should now know:
1 how the creative media sector is structured
2 about job roles and conditions of employment in a creative media industry
3 how to gain employment in a creative media industry.