Communications and Media

People who work in this area have a greater chance to influence how we all think and act than most others! We all watch TV, including the adverts. We are targeted by marketing campaigns. We read books and newspapers. We very often take on board the attitudes they promote. We want to have the products they advertise. We have split the jobs and courses into 5 sectors in this career area:

• Advertising, public relations (PR) and media
• Journalism
• Marketing
• Printing
• Publishing.

Entry is very competitive for jobs in all of these sectors. Short term contracts and freelance work are common, except in marketing and printing.

In Scotland, 2,250 people work in advertising across 550 companies, accounting for 2% of the UK total. Most advertising agencies are based in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the majority employing fewer than 10 people. Some 27% work as freelancers. The creative industries in Scotland employ people in the sub areas of television (1,950), games content (500), animation (500), film (2,400) and publishing (13,200). A small number of companies are large multinational organisations but most are small businesses, often employing workers on a freelance basis. Media Studies graduates go into a wide range of jobs, and usually find that it takes time, industry contacts and relevant work experience to get into media and related careers. Competition for jobs is fierce; networking is crucial in this sector. Journalism is a fairly small profession; there are about 62,000 journalists in the UK, many of whom are freelance. The three areas in the UK employing most journalists are in London and the South East of England (60%) and Scotland. The UK is the fifth largest producer of printed products in the world, employing nearly 130,000 people, 5,915 of which are working in Scotland. Despite the growth of electronic media it continues to do well. Most companies are small businesses, usually specialising in a particular type of printing. Publishing includes book, web content, magazine and newspaper production. It’s a small but important industry in Scotland, with some 450 companies. The newspaper industry accounts for 34% of the publishing workforce, with around 7% working freelance. Edinburgh is the main centre for book publishing in Scotland. Web-based publishing has become very important with an increasing demand for workers with multimedia skills. You’ll need to be outgoing and confident to get some of the jobs in this career area. For almost all the jobs you need to be creative and able to work to deadlines, often under pressure. You need a lot of stamina for some jobs too.

You do usually need qualifications. Some people are lucky enough to manage without, but it is unusual. There are courses in a lot of suitable subjects, including advertising, broadcasting, communication, journalism, media, printing and publishing. There is a wide range of qualifications too, from 1-year National Certificates (NC) or National Qualifications (NQ), through Higher National Certificates (HNC) and Higher National Diplomas (HND) to 4-year degrees and postgraduate courses.

Sources

UK Printing: The Facts and Figures, British Printing Industries Federation (BPIF) (2013)
(www.britishprint.com)

Sector Skills Assessment for the Creative Media Industries in Scotland, April 2011, Skillset

TV, Film, Radio, Interactive Media, Animation, Computer Games, Facilities, Photo Imaging, Publishing, Advertising and Other Content Creation, Careers Adviser IAG Fact Sheet 2012

Journalists at Work, Their Vision, Training, Recruitment and Conditions February 2013, National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ)

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