Media is Bigger Than Content
What recent graduates should understand about the ecosystem behind the industry as entry-level jobs grow harder to find.
What do you do when the job market shifts unexpectedly during the middle of your pursuit of a college degree? How do you prepare for a job market that is scarce for entry level roles?
These are questions that many young adults, especially in media and creative industries, are now facing as unemployment and underemployment rates continue to skyrocket.
The only correct answer is this: pivot.
By the end of 2025, unemployment among recent college graduates climbed to roughly 5.7 percent, while underemployment reached over 42 percent — the highest level since 2020, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The shift has been especially noticeable in media and creative industries, where entry-level roles in journalism, content production and social media have become increasingly competitive or quietly eliminated altogether. Newsrooms are shrinking. Marketing teams are leaner. And many companies that once hired junior creatives now expect candidates to arrive with years of experience already behind them.
But the mistake many graduates make is assuming the visible side of media — writing stories, producing videos, managing social feeds — is the entire industry.
It isn’t. Media is much bigger than content.
Content is what audiences see. The ecosystem is what makes it possible.
The Media Ecosystem
Behind every article, campaign, podcast or viral post is an entire ecosystem of people working in distribution, audience development, advertising, analytics, partnerships and technology — roles that rarely get the same attention as the bylines or on-screen talent, but are just as essential to how the industry functions.
Sometimes the most strategic move isn’t landing the glamorous job right away. It’s positioning yourself inside the ecosystem, in the rooms where media is distributed, funded and built, while continuing to develop the creative work you care about on your own time.
And the good news for graduates is that many of the skills they developed while studying media — storytelling, audience awareness, cultural literacy, communication and creativity — translate far beyond traditional content roles. Those same skills are valuable in areas like brand partnerships, audience strategy, digital advertising, platform operations and media technology.
In other words, the path into the industry may not look exactly like the one students imagined when they first chose their major. But it still exists.
Access = Success
For young creatives whose ultimate goal is to write, produce or create, that may mean taking a role that sits slightly behind the scenes at first — learning how media is funded, distributed and measured while continuing to build a portfolio outside of work. In an industry built on relationships and proximity, being inside the ecosystem often matters more than the title on your first business card.
In moments like this, internships — both paid and unpaid — can be one of the most underrated ways to gain that proximity. While they are often viewed as temporary or secondary to full-time employment, internships can offer something many entry-level roles no longer guarantee: access — to professionals, to industry workflows and to the networks that shape how opportunities actually circulate.
For graduates navigating a difficult job market, that kind of proximity can be just as valuable as a title. In an industry built on relationships, timing and visibility, being close to the ecosystem often determines who gets the opportunity when it finally appears.