The Importance of Following the Industry at Large
People who work in media, as with any field, follow what they do. And, since media folks are in the business of crafting news, they perhaps like talking about and analyzing their own work and that of their colleagues even more. This doesn’t mean you need to be an expert in all things media before you go into a job. It does mean, however, that you should start following the media industry. I blog about the industry on this site for that very reason: being knowledgeable about your field, at large, will impress interviewers.
Focusing on Your Segment of Media
First off, you should follow what interests you. Secondly, you should follow the field you’re interested in. If you want to break into TV news, pay attention to what’s happening at the networks. Is there a contract disagreement somewhere? Has a big anchor just been fired? Hired? Knowing about these things will come in very handy when you go an interview. Not only will you avoid looking silly -- if you interview for a job at CBS News, say, and the network just lost a big anchor and you don’t know about, you will look foolish if it comes up during conversation -- but you’ll come off as a more informed and serious candidate. And in the media world, this is always attractive to people doing the hiring.
Why It’s Good to Be a Generalist
Although I noted above that you don’t need to be an expert in every facet of the media world to land a media job, it’s a good career move to start following the media world. Why? For starters, it will help you gain more knowledge about what you’re doing, and it will also help you as you move along in your career. What do you think people talk about at industry parties? Conversations about the media world -- gossip, news about hirings and firings, etc. -- often dominate talk at parties and, therefore, being in the know will also help you network.
The Other Plus of Following Media News
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself why you want a job in media. Hopefully the answer is because you’re curious -- because you want the story. At all levels of media, that’s the goal: To get the story and then inform the public. Because of that, knowing the stories about your industry, and the people who inhabit it, should be of interest to you. The more you follow those stories, the more you will learn about the important people working the jobs that interest you. For example, if you dream of being a magazine editor, you should be able to tell whose work inspires you, and why.[/pp]
Where to Find Industry News
For starters, you can follow my blog. That said, I can’t cover every facet of the industry every day. One of the best ways to find out more about the industry -- and what areas interest you -- is to read lots of publications. Read more newspapers. Read more magazines. Get better acquainted with the blogosphere.
For more general overview-type information, all the major newspapers cover media. And most industries have trade publications, which are publications geared to readers who work in that industry. A list of some trades and general sites about media:
mediabistro.com: this job site also dishes a lot of news about every facet of the industry (and has blogs about book publishing, TV news and other areas)
Ad Age: the trade magazine of the advertising industry, it often discusses things happening behind-the-scenes at magazines (as it relates to advertising)
Publishers Weekly: the trade magazine of the book publishing industry
Folio: a trade about the magazine industry
And, as I said, most major papers cover news and the media. You can find NY Times coverage on the subject here