Online Broadcasting Degrees
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Broadcasting offers news and information to the general public, typically via radio and television. Experience along with education is extremely important in broadcasting because it is a highly competitive field and therefore, students should try to obtain an internship or experience while they are in school. Earnings vary greatly in this field because of the many different paths that graduates can take.
Broadcasting deals more with just newscasters speaking on the air. Many staffers work behind the scenes to produce various broadcasts and write scripts for those that are on the air. Most people with little experience begin at the bottom and have to prove themselves in order to move up the ranks.
Those that work in broadcasting often have odd working hours, depending on the time of day their broadcast is on. For instance, early morning hours may be required as some morning broadcasts begin at 4:30AM while others may be late in the evening. The number of hours worked each week averaged 35.8 in 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Many broadcasting professionals work out in the field, meaning they film events as they happen, which can be exciting at times, but it can also be dangerous or stressful, such as reports during dangerous storms or military operations. A broadcast team for just one news show on television is made up of reporters, technicians, camera operators, researchers, marketers, and program directors, to name just a few.
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Career Specializations
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Sports Communications: This area is for those that are sports fans and wish to focus on coverage of events and news surrounding various local and national sports. Often these individuals are former athletes.
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Video Production: This specialization is for those that want to operate the cameras, lighting, and editing of actual broadcasts. This is a highly technical job that often requires a good deal of creativity.
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Broadcast Journalism: This specialization prepares students to work as news editors, reporters, researchers, and news writers.
Degree Levels Available for Broadcasting
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Associate Degree: Takes two years to complete
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Bachelor's Degree: This program takes 4 years from start to finish
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Master's Degree: This degree takes approximately 2 years to finish
Education and Certification Requirements
Students that wish to enter broadcast, should ensure they enter a degree that is accredited through the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, while this is not required to work in broadcast, since the field is highly competitive, it makes sense to attend a school that offers the right accreditation that will be give the student an edge over his or her competition.
Most graduates with associate degrees in broadcasting will have a very difficult time finding work, since most organizations require a minimum of a bachelor's degree along with experience, which an internship can provide students. A master's degree is required for those that want to move into management positions (BLS).
Certification for broadcasters is not normally required, but in some states, on-air personalities may be required to pass specific examinations. In addition, many companies have various tests and ways to advance worker careers if they are interested. What employers look for is a sharp presentation, professional portfolio, educational credentials, and verifiable work experience (BLS).
Salary Information
In broadcasting, wages vary substantially because they depend on experience, education, demographics, and where the graduate is working. The average for all public broadcasting professionals except management earned an average of $852 per week in 2008, whereas those that worked in private broadcast earned $608 per week in 2008.
Radio announcers earned an average of $12.76 per hour in 2008, while reporters earned $18.18 per hour, and camera operators earned $18.50 per hour in 2008. Operations managers in broadcasting earned $46.94 on average per hour and producers earned on average $28.05 hourly, both in 2008 (BLS).
Job Outlook
Competition for jobs is projected to remain stiff over the coming years. Overall, there will be an increase of seven percent in the number of available jobs in 2018 as compared to 2008, but this increase is on the low end of the average expected growth across all industries. One of the main reasons for the slightly lagging job growth is that many of the jobs that used to take three or four employees are now consolidated into one job, thanks to the advancements in technology.
However, cable broadcasting and the subscriber division will help to offset the slow growth in this field. Many new graduates will find their first jobs on a cable show rather than a network show. However, this is great experience and a foot in the door that can always lead to better opportunities in the future (BLS).
Related Careers
Film and TV is a related career, but rather than dealing with news and journalism, these professionals create feature films and television shows on both network television and cable stations. Many people in this field work in editing, graphics, and writing, to name a few. As with broadcast, it takes an entire crew to put together a even a thirty-minute show let alone an hour or weekly series. This is also a highly competitive area and education and experience are what land people the best positions (BLS).
Multimedia Design is also a related career, but these professionals use several varieties of media in order to communicate, such as audio, animation, video, still images, and digital data, to name a few. Many professionals in multimedia design work with those in broadcast or film and TV as a team (BLS).
Advertising is somewhat of a related career since advertisers work with a variety of media outlets in order to get their product in the hands of consumers. Advertisers buy radio time, television commercial, time, use print advertisements, and now they use the Internet since it is cheap. This is also a competitive field and education as well as a professional portfolio will help give the graduate an edge (BLS).
