A communications degree can lead to many types of jobs, from working as a newspaper or television reporter to being a public relations officer for a business. A communications major must take advanced course work in English and communications, as well as a number of topics, such as history, psychology and writing. The goal is to develop both an ability to gather and organize a set of facts, as well as relay that information to others in a clear and concise format.
Another type of media degree is known as digital media. This profession largely involves computers and the use of them to communicate over the Internet. A digital media specialist helps businesses, organizations and educational institutions create digital content. This content is then used on television, in digital screen ads for retail and on the Internet. For example, a digital media specialist might use a program like Adobe Flash to create flash animation as an ad for a company website or posting on YouTube. He might also use Adobe Premiere to edit a video for a presentation DVD.
When people think of a graphics designer, they might think only of someone working at a computer with a digital tablet; however, a trained graphics artist must still understand the tools and theories of traditional graphics art. All the software in the world can't serve as a substitute for talent. Of course, she must also have mastered several graphics programs, such as Photoshop and Illustrator. She needs to understand the specifications for images that are going to be printed versus those that are going on the Internet.
Advertising is a media degree and career that combines concepts from many other fields, such as economics, business and psychology. For example, an advertiser has to understand the impact that color has on the consumer, as well as the roll that the layout of an ad or sign plays in its effectiveness. There are a number of computer programs he might have to learn to use to create layouts and assemble their content, such as InDesign or QuarkXpress