A Research Interview with a Media Worker

Different sectors have diverse aspects that affect the nature of work and the experiences of their workers. Deuze (2013) indicates that work dominates modern people’s thinking about life-related aspects. The author suggests that the primary option is choosing to work, which explains why students spend a significant proportion of their young life preparing to encounter work environments. The media industry represents one of the areas where learners have to acquire diversified training and placement exposures before starting their work as producers in this area. In another article, Deuze (2011) states that successful media personalities draw their insights from different sources, including finding appropriate mentors to guide them through their journey. Before transitioning into such an environment, the primary aspect of familiarizing the work dynamics is understanding the distinctive elements, including the routine work, expectations, rewards, and drawbacks. In this context, this report represents a thorough analysis of an interview with a media worker to create awareness about media work and its associated aspects.

The interview underscores concepts and learnings that will remain influential in one’s career as a media professional. One of these is the declaration that teamwork and collaboration are fundamental in this industry. For instance, Clarkson said that “I think teamwork is one thing that sets media work apart. It is a kind of balance and checks like the ones that ensure we do not expose ourselves as incompetent by publishing erroneous and misinformative materials (p. 3). In this context, media work emerges as an area where one must cultivate appropriate work-related connections to ensure success. Perhaps this observation illustrates why Akila and Ayodole (2020, p. 215) indicate that working together between citizen journalism and mainstream media is not new. The authors confirm that media personalities routinely collaborate to ensure that they bring their audiences accurate and reliable information. Hatcher and Thayer (2017, p. 1284) also

highlight that journalists often work as an interconnected network for collecting and verifying data to uphold the professionalism of their work. They acknowledge the value of maintaining a respected status to ensure that their audiences do not doubt the news they present. This understanding explains the interviewee’s response that teamwork is akin to a check-and-balance aspect. Identifying this relationship indicates that individuals strive to create lasting and reliable connections with other like-minded producers in their careers. Thus, media work arises as a collaborative rather than an individualized endeavor.

Evidence demonstrates that media work is not haphazard, as illustrated by the defined controls, presence of order, plan, and narrative setting. According to Dowd (2016, p. 97), the domination of media in the contemporary era arises from its well-structured nature. The author points out that media, especially the mainstream one, represented by the established news institutions, has set protocols for its employees to follow while collecting information and disseminating it. The author agrees that the world has entered an era where precision through data journalism is fundamental (Dowd, p. 97). Perhaps, this control illustrates the concept of governmentality theory, where policies push stakeholders to observe certain norms in work (Joseph 2010). As a result, the order must be a common denominator to avert the emergence of chaos between the different players. In this context, the interview found out that “…there are those who major in politics, social aspects, sports, and many more. It’s the same case, there must be order in the trade” (Interview, p. 4). This process leads to a hierarchical structure with individuals that set the agenda and influence the narratives in a firm. It indicates that the employees are not left to decide the stories they want to cover independently. Instead, there is a higher force that determines these subtle aspects. Al-Rawi (2019, p. 688) indicates that this aspect has been critical in

establishing a more robust gate that filters fake news and tempers uncontrolled exposure of emotive discourses in public. As a result, media work has more stringent controls.

These controls raise the question of whether they interfere with the concept of independence among professionals in this field. According to Bruns et al. (2016, p. 107), mainstream media’s control indicates that the agenda-setting process is significantly structured compared to the one present on social media sites. While interacting with the interviewee, it emerged that limited resources could be one of the many reasons why workers do not demonstrate their independence. For instance, Clarkson states that “the supervisors must have a list of priorities for efficient use of the resources. This means that they commit workers to pursue prioritized aspects while respecting their independence” (Interview, p. 4). This quote reveals that the structures in mainstream media may present independence-limiting aspects despite the arguments that workers do not remain overly controlled. However, the absence of sufficient support may hinder them from venturing or pursuing some leads in their work. De