Media consultant jobs involve controlling the public perception of an issue, product, politician, company, celebrity and even other types of media, such as movies, songs and books. Social media such as well-known friend sites, shorter comment, or microblogging, sites and even career networking sites have expanded the field even more. The breadth of the possible areas of emphasis lends the term media consultant jobs to many types of specialization and interactions with other related careers. Media consultant jobs may purely or partially include lobbyists, publicists, agents, public relations specialists or advertising agencies. Whatever the particular emphasis, those in this career seek to steer public opinion using various types of media.
Advertising agencies may provide the most well known types of media consultant jobs. These agencies develop media campaigns to meet the needs of their customers. Slogans, television and radio commercials, Internet ads or print ads may be developed and produced to sell a product or change public perception of a political issue. The advertising agency conceives of an overall theme specific to the product or aim, and then breaks the larger ad campaign down into the types of media the customer has chosen to use.
Publicity agents are another variety of media consultant jobs. Employed by celebrities, publishers, music producers, movie producers and other businesses, publicity agents seek to utilize different types of media to keep their clients in the public eye. Television advertisements may introduce a person or item and initially produce interest. Initial screenings, concert openings, debut albums or book tours follow and are covered in celebrity-based magazines or celebrity-based television programming to further increase public interest.
Media consultant jobs are also found in the political arena. Politicians running for office often employ publicity agents. Lobbyists, hired by firms to influence the public and politicians regarding a given issue, employ advertising agencies for large campaigns and use their own in-house resources for smaller affairs. The consultants involved in these projects may release formal position statements, run television commercials regarding an issue or even hire a celebrity to draw media attention to their cause.
These types of careers nearly always require a bachelor's degree in business, marketing, communication or a related field. A degree in the area of media specialization is helpful in some cases, such as a major in television, broadcasting, journalism or graphic art. In the US, most of these jobs are located in California and New York. The numbers of people employed in media consultant jobs are expected to remain fairly static. These positions, however, are extremely difficult to obtain due to the very competitive nature of the industry.
