The New York City media scene is, arguably, the biggest in the country. New York is the center for book and magazine publishing. It's also home to many of the national news broadcast companies -- all the major news networks are based in New York City. Therefore the New York City media world is considered the heart of the American media industry.
And, while New York can be a prohibitively expensive place to live -- especially in the thick of things on the island of Manhattan -- it’s where they say the best of the best go.
In book publishing, the major houses, known as “the big six” – Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck and Hachette (formerly known as Warner Books) -- are all based in Manhattan. And, while there are smaller publishers around elsewhere, New York is undeniably the center of the book world. And, aside from just offering more in the way of job opportunity, New York is also where the networking and industry events happen. And, as with any profession, it’s good to be where the industry is based, since it will offer you more opportunities to make connections that will help you move up throughout your career.
NYC is also the center, in many ways, of the magazine publishing world. It’s where the major magazine publishers, like Time Inc. and Condé Nast, are based. And, much like book publishing, it’s where the biggest concentration of jobs and, therefore magazine professionals, are.
Many magazines outside of New York are regional glossies, i.e. city-based publications that address the lifestyle and culture of the local area. (Almost every major city has its own magazine. Examples include: Boston Magazine, San Francisco Magazine and the nationally revered Texas Monthly.
In the journalism field, at newspapers and on TV, New York is home to some of the country’s premiere newspapers. For all-around papers it doesn’t get any better than The New York Times and for business The Wall Street Journal is considered the cream of the crop. NYC is also the home production base for many TV news and talk shows. The major national news broadcasts and the morning talk shows, like Today and Good Morning America, are all broadcast from New York. Alternative format talk shows like The View are also filmed in New York as are some of the late night talk shows, like The David Letterman Show, The Daily Show and Late Night With Conan O’Brien. Additionally many of the all-news channels like CNN, MSNBC and FOX News are based in Manhattan.
In addition to being a major hub for so many magazines, news organizations and book publishers, New York is also a major hub of various businesses. The fashion industry and the financial world have particularly strong holds in the city, so publications that cover finance have a strong presence here (if they’re not already based here). In the fashion world, most of the major fashion glossies are based in New York, like Vogue and Elle. The fashion trade, Women’s Wear Daily is also based here.
Then there are the local publications. The two major dailies of the area are The Daily News and The New York Post. Newer free dailies have sprung up as well, such as AM New York. The major alternative weekly for NYC is The Village Voice, which has a somewhat stories history – it was founded by (among others) the novelist Norman Mailer in 1955. The Voice is also the oldest alternative weekly in the country and, in essence, launched the format.