This weeks reading rings *so* true to my experience working in the media industry, it’s almost laughable. The notion of young twenty-somethings being exploited***, exploiting themselves, and in return, exploiting media organisations is such a true reflection of the media landscape, especially when it comes down to working across digital content.
The first step into the industry (as the entire program will have experienced) is to intern and gain work experience, which (for me at least) meant dedicating my time and efforts above uni, life and paid work to be freely exploited and subsequently exploit the namesake of a business for my resume and *future career*.
The article speaks of digital publications and sweatshop journalism, whereby freelance writers are working for minimal monetary reward (if any) to create and maintain consistent content under the publication’s name. As I, myself, have completed such work and have close friends who still do, the reading confirmed the current environment of digital creative labour, whereby jobs that once stood as formal employment are now being replaced by a subculture of freelance content creators. The mentioned industry emphasis on the word ‘contributor’ rather than ’employee’ is a testament to the current digital space, where creatives and curators are merely contributors to the various platforms that exist online, not traditionally fixated employees.
As most things do, this does have its pros and cons –
Pros being: content variation, lowered costs, less human resources, a smaller need for physical office and more for publications; experience, convenience, side-money for creatives.
Cons being: unreliability, less responsibility and control for organisations; less full-time, inclusive roles for publications; low-to-no pay rates, little-to-no consideration for intellectual property for creatives.
– but is definitely a way to look at the future of the increasingly digital media space.
***Keep in mind I am not regarding ‘exploitation’ in the negative sense, but rather as per the following definition; “to make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource)”.
