Media Sector

Roles and Employment

Job Roles
Within the Media Industry

On a TV set there are a number of important roles that

help ensure success. This is an example of how a
Television crew might be structured.

All the roles within this diagram provide different skills

allowing a good end product. They all fall into different
categories such as creative. One example of a creative
role is a Writer. It is a writers job to create and edit the
script for specific roles. This means they have the
ability to be creative. Another example of a creative
role is a Director, the Director is responsible for many
things on a TV set such as the placement for the
cameras, microphones, lighting equipment and props.
Another category that TV roles fall into is managerial. A

Floor manager is one example of a managerial job role.

A Floor manager is in charge of ensuring everything is
going to plan on set. This is because he is the one that
links the studio to the control room, where the director
usually is communicating with the floor manager.
Financial is another category, the producer would
usually fall into this category. The producer is
responsible for most of the initial production such as
raising the fund to ensure the production can be
definite. This is usually done through coordinating
supervisors.
There are also other job that could be seen as sales and
marketing. These jobs include a promoter. It is the film
promoter's job to ensure the public know about the
product that is being released, enabling it to get its
deserved attraction. Publicists are similar as they also
attempt to promote awareness but also organise
events.
Editorial roles are vital within a TV crew. An editor
requires a lot of skills such as a wide understanding of
current digital equipment both audio and video related.
It also requires an incredibly large amount of patience
as it often becomes very frustrating

Professional Working Practices

Rules that are included:
In the BBC editorial guidelines one rule that is
mentioned is that they must not broadcast material
that might seriously impair the physical, mental or
moral development of children and young people. This
guideline refers to specific clips on TV that could be

seen as negative influences being shown as acceptable

behaviour. For example racism or any form of
discrimination. This is needed as it could result in
children or young peoples morals being altered due to
television content. It is likely that a penalty for not
abiding by this rule would be that channel would be
taking off air and probably fined.
Another guideline that is mentioned is the religious
views and beliefs of an individual, a religion or
denomination must not be misrepresented or abused,
as judged against generally accepted standards. This is
necessary as it is important to ensure that everyone
feels that their beliefs are respected. It has caused
conflict In the past and in some cases resulting in
violence. Meaning safety could also be considered as a
concern. If this was to take place fines would be likely
to happen and it is possible that legal action would take
place depending on the scale of the incident.
The BBC must also seek to balance the public interest
in reporting crime with respect for the privacy and
dignity of victims and their families. This is a crucial
rule to always be noted as it is always possibly for
curiosity to get the best of you leading to lack of
respect and in some cases harassment. Depending on
the severity of the case, the offender could potentially
lose their job as well as a fine.

Editors are primarily full time workers. This is because

they are usually hired by a company to fill a permanent
role and work on different tasks for the company. This is
seen in the advert below. Editors don't tend to have
anything but normal office hours. This is mainly due to
the fact they are never needed on a set or during the
creation of a project, all of their work can be done
during regular work shifts. Editors will earn a salary as
they are being employed by the company. This can also
be seen in the advert below.

Contracts, Conditions and Pay

Different working conditions are expected with different

jobs. The contract for different job roles usually allows
you to know how long you may work on a specific
project. A Producer will often be offered a fixed term
contract, meaning the job will only last a certain
amount of time. This is because often they are only
needed until completion of the project. An example of
this can be seen in the job advert below. The work
patterns and hours of a producer are all dependent on
the project. This is because a producer will usually
oversee a project from conception until completion and
often works closely with the director, meaning they
could potentially be needed at any hour of the day.
Producers are also usually paid with a salary.

Directors will usually be freelance workers on a fixed

term contract, meaning they are only ever hired when
needed. This is often because directors are hired to
complete a specific job. When this job is complete, the
company or whoever hired them now has no use for the
director. This can be seen in the advert below. Similar
to the producer, a director is highly involved in the
majority of the project. So depending on the project

needs they could be needed at any time. Directors will

also receive a salary.