How do I get into the media?

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Hiya, ive jsut read all your posts on this subject (is the 1st message called a thread? im new 2 this type of chatting so im not sure)

anyway im like 1000's of other people n i 2 want 2 get into media. iv heard it doesnt matter if u study media or not but surely if u go i2 the industry people will b iver impressed or simply have recognition 4 the fact u have a GCSE in media. Im starting 2 study 4 my GCSEs now n i picked 2 do business studies last year bu wat i always wanted 2 do is media so i got it changed as soon as i cud n my teacher (thanx loads 2 him!!0 managed2 swap me around so that i was in teh very first lesson of media. i as over the moon!!! i am so glad i can study media just2 a li'l inside of m,edia. but liek uv been saying its not what u no its who u no. wel i dnt no anybody lol, which doesnt help. their is 1 producer/editor i no but i no him very briefly so I dont think it counts. he fluked his way in2 it as well lol. where can i get work experience? i will defo work weekends n after 2 on thursdays n fridays (coz im at skuel the rest of the time) :frown:

but o well, got 2 b done.
wat work experience wud u advise me 2 get in2. my main interest is in the actual presenters and hosts in TV. any tips i cud use?? :smile:

Reply 21

chats

as jools said the bbc get thousands of applicants every day to just get work experience (unpaid) so I advise not going straight for the big companies.

you may only know this man briefly but some people that want to get into media dont know anyone at all, so you have a bit of a foot in the door. talk to him, see what how he can help. dont be scared to talk to him or you will never make it.

as jools said earlier try working your way up, such as working for your local paper first, then maybe applying for the bigger jobs.

Reply 22

Brown Patrick Bateman

Lucy4Happiness

iv heard it doesnt matter if u study media or not but surely if u go i2 the industry people will b iver impressed or simply have recognition 4 the fact u have a GCSE in media.

Frankly nobody's going to give a shit what you took for GCSE!!

Lucy4Happiness

where can i get work experience? wat work experience wud u advise me 2 get in2. my main interest is in the actual presenters and hosts in TV. any tips i cud use?? :smile:

Start small. Anything remotely media related - a local newspaper, the free weekly one perhaps, or a community magazine. Be willing to work for free. Then you can slowly try and work your way up... student radio, a local broadcasting network if you're lucky.

Reply 23

Lucy4Happiness

Thank You both 4ur advice.
Jools at skule they make it in2 a big thing that u do ned2 choose the rite choices (becoz u pick wat subjects u want2 do outta loads) n they hype it up proper bad so i was worried incase i chose the rong ones n if it came bk on me n everyfin!!! i figured my choices out sooooooo many times b4 handing in wat i wanted 2 do, n i still ended up changing 1 of them lol! :biggrin:

The guy i no briefly i met once 3years ago (i dnt remember him from tehn) n on the 22nd of aug at my (now brother-in-laws) birthday party n the friday following (which was the 27.08) we wer both involved in teh wedding n not jsut u no the regulat guests, i tlaked 2 him a bit much not loads, anwya i rang him alst friday 4 advice n talked 4 about 10mins but it felt liek an hour!! (dunno y!) i was sorta nervous talkin2 him but hes just dead fnny so i was 2busy lauffin my head off 2 ask lots of questions, he sed wen im inyear 11 ill porb b able 2 do work experience ther (coz we have compulsory work experience at skule in eyar 11) , well he sed sumfin along them lines. i wud work 4 him at weekends every weekend 4 nufin but i dnt want2 mither him (wen i was gettin him number of this woman he no's she rang him 1st 2 check whether it was ok i av his number n told me she was just checking if it was the rite number--which i dnt mind coz its understand able :smile:

, but wen i told my mum she sed well ppl mite tihnk i fancy him :eek:

!!!

) so i dnt wnat2 seem liek im mithering him 2 much coz i dnt wnat ppl2 think i fancy him, im jsut really interested in Media!!!!!!
Sorry its so long + i dunno how 2 use the quotes so sorry about that as well lol. Thank Tho :smile:

Reply 24

Brown Patrick Bateman

Lucy4Happiness

Most people doing A-Level / AS Level Media Studies didn't do GCSE Media, because it doesn't exist at most schools, and it doesn't hinder them. Similarly lots of people doing Media at university wouldn't have studies it beforehand - the same thing goes for Law and Economics. Obviously it'll be nice to have done Media from GCSE level, I'm just saying GCSE choices aren't that big a deal, and when you've done A Levels it won't make much difference whether or not you took GCSE Media.

Reply 25

Jump

I took media GCSE, and am taking the A level now and I would like to warn you that Media A level is almost all theory, analysis and evaluation rather than practical work enjoyed at GCSE.

Reply 26

bambino

I only started getting some radio experience a month ago but have got a few more things lined up like doing some voluntary stuff for my local BBC on an action desk. What i really wanna do is get to BBC Manchester...if I get about 6 months local radio experience is it worth applying for work experience at BBC Manchester? What about starting of as a broadcast assistant? Whats the pay for that?

Reply 27

Megalomania

My future plan looks like this...

BA Politics----> media related work experience (internships) every summer -----> MA International Relations ----> applying for political journalism.

does this sound reasonable enough :confused:

I really want to become a caster, i wonder how many decades it will take me to achieve this goal.... :tongue:

Reply 28

Brown Patrick Bateman

bambino

if I get about 6 months local radio experience is it worth applying for work experience at BBC Manchester?

Yes.

bambino

What about starting of as a broadcast assistant? Whats the pay for that?

~£17k?

Reply 29

Lucy4Happiness

I dont know how to quote so this is to 'jumpunderaboat' (lol@ur name)
u sed u r doing a Media AS level n its not liekt he work u did 4 media GCSE coz its more...erm analysing (I cant remember ur exact words but i no wat u meant). Y r u doing as AS level how cum u didnt try 2get str8 in2 the industry? :confused:

wat area of Media r u maninly interested in, have u got a plan for getting 2 where u want 2 b (n where exactly is it u want2 get 2 in media!)
Its possible to get in2 media straight from skule isnt it? u dont HAVE 2 do an A-level in it do you? Whats the work like, dont they have courses where you can study a particular area of media rather than having just one course? :frown:

Where are u studying? Sorry about all the questions but Im really interested and intreagued by how people got, r getting, n how they plan 2 get, into the media industry. Please answer, :smile:

Thanx a lot :smile:

Reply 30

Jump

Lucy4Happiness

Where are u studying? Sorry about all the questions but Im really interested and intreagued by how people got, r getting, n how they plan 2 get, into the media industry. Please answer, :smile:

Thanx a lot :smile:

The reason I didn't go straight into the industry is that it would be hard to do without formal quals, plus I always grew up assuming I would get a-levels and go to uni.
I'd have to say I'm interested in all sorts of the media but was looking at going into advertising specifically, I suppose. However now I'm going to do an Economics degree and hopefully get into finance.
There are 'B-Techs' and AVCEs that cover more practical elements of media, however these effectively shut any doors to a career in any of the other sectors.
I'm studying at college.

Just like to mention that your aspirations may change alot in the next few years, so leave yourself plenty of options.

Reply 31

Lucy4Happiness

To jumpunderaboat ,
B-techs? AVEC's? What are they? Why did u change ur mind n decide 2 go 4 finance? what did u learn about emdia u didnt liek? wats so gud about finance?
I no my views will p[robably change but recently i spoke 2 this man i v.v.briefly no about doing work experience n it sounded like i mite get 2 work experience 4 him in a year or so, wen my skuel does it, n i was chuffed 2 bits that i got 2 talk2 him coz it meant i got a link besides the 3 days id been at a hotel wiv him n the uver day i met him which was about a week b4 the hotel meeting. i was estatic n the adrenalin didnt stop running for a few days!! that was last FRiday, wen i got bk 2 skule monday morning i told my teacher i definatly wnated 2 change (id spoke 2 him on the friday before i had tlaked 2 this guy n he sed 2 go bk wen i new wat i wnated 2 do) . this teacher sed that 4 the first week he wudnt b able 2 change it which emant 4 just 2 lessons i wud b oin a different class , i was very disheartened n down iside but still happy that i wud b bale 2 change, then on wednesday (before i had done either of the 2 lessons) he came 2 the room i was in n sed it ahd change from then immdeiate effect, i wanted 2 hug him n run n tell the guy id spoke 2 on the friday (however i did neither) i was chuffed 2 pieces, i was so ahppy n styill am that i changed it!!! but on here pplahve been saying media is a mickey mouse subject. Obviously I dont agree with this insane acusation but if its a view shared widely (especially between uni's n suchlike) then thers not much i can do 2change that so maybe i shud study sumfin media related but sumfin '''respected''' more...wat do u think?

Sorry theres loads of typing errors its coz im fastly typing and i still havent mastered touch typing lol.
Thanx a lot xXx

Reply 32

Jump

Lucy4Happiness

Sorry theres loads of typing errors its coz im fastly typing and i still havent mastered touch typing lol.
Thanx a lot xXx

Type slower then...or check through the post afterwards.

Reply 33

Lucy4Happiness

Ye ok I will do in future, thanx!
Can u also tell me how to do quotes coz i cant do them!
+wat r B-techs n AVEC's?
(This is to jumpunderaboat btw all.)
Thanx agen xXx

Reply 34

Jump

Lucy4Happiness

To jumpunderaboat ,
B-techs? AVEC's? What are they? Why did u change ur mind n decide 2 go 4 finance? what did u learn about emdia u didnt liek? wats so gud about finance?

B-techs and AVCE are single subect qualifications worth 2-3 a-levels but tend to be vocational and therefore less respected than a-levels.

The reason I decided to persue economics/finance is because I found myself following the financial world in the press alot and maths has always been my best subject at school so it allows my to follow that route. I guess nothing really put me off media other than my attention being diverted to subjects such as economics, business and politics. Despite this I have since learnt even if I wanted to get into the media/advertising industry a media degree might not be the best way to do it.

Reply 35

Jump

Lucy4Happiness

Ye ok I will do in future, thanx!
Can u also tell me how to do quotes coz i cant do them!
+wat r B-techs n AVEC's?
(This is to jumpunderaboat btw all.)
Thanx agen xXx

click the button on the bottom right...looks like this.

Reply 36

recurring

Try getting work experience at the sunday telegraph or evening standard, im only 16 and i got placements there this summer, and it was good as i wasnt the tea boy!