Global media is such a large machine that much of the world's population is employed by it. On the surface, it seems like media refers only to reporters or newscasters, but behind the front lines there is a huge network of human beings making sure that it is run efficiently and non-stop. Consider that news is a 24 hour, 7 day a week institution. It doesn't take a holiday when it is Christmas, nor does it take a summer holiday in July as students do. It doesn't sleep because when it is night in Toronto, it is day in Hong Kong or Japan. News follows the sun as it goes from New York, to Los Angeles, to Australia, then Europe, the Far East and back to North America. There is always something happening and there is always an audience hungry to know what is going on locally and around the world. In each city hundreds if not thousands of people maintain the television stations, cameras, computers, or drive the trucks in search of news. There are people translating news from many different languages to other languages. There are fact-checkers and editors who make sure the news sounds professional. There are lawyers on hand to make sure that what is said does not result in any lawsuits. There are wardrobe consultants to suggest what to wear in front of the camera. There are technical staff to fix things if they are broken. More importantly, there are satellites and fibre optic networks which send the news all around the globe seconds after it happens. All of these activities is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what is necessary for you to be able to watch that news program when you get home from work, or read that article in the New York Times as you eat your breakfast, or read a up to the minute website posting on a famous website, www.forbes.com, for example. The media employs many people and hosts many different careers and as a result, students who study media will benefit from this
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