Los Angeles's media industry is a thriving confluence of traditional media, new online media, and technology, and the city continues to have a strong and steady supply of media jobs. Los Angeles employs media professionals in virtually every iteration of the medium, from film and television, to online news, to documentary work, web series, and interactive entertainment.

Most of the media industry is headed online, and that means that all media professionals should be technologically-savvy to stay competitive in the job market. You do not need to be a master programmer, but the top media professionals today constantly monitor online outlets for trends, popular stories, and search-engine optimization tactics. Marketing professionals must learn how to engage audiences through social media platforms. Producers must learn what it takes to get onto YouTube's recommendation. Many start their careers as assistants to marketing executives, producers, or editors, while others use online blog and vlog channels to build an audience before transferring to work with a media conglomerate.

Some of the top cities for finding jobs in media tend to be Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. You could build a successful career in media in any one of these cities. However, out of those cities, Los Angeles ranks first in terms of the total number of media jobs available and the average level of salaries in the field. Among those cities, about 14% of all media jobs are located in Los Angeles.

The top ranked schools in Los Angeles with programs and degrees in media are University of Southern California (USC, $49,464 per year, out-of-state), American Film Institute (AFI, $47,030 per year, out-of-state), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA, $51,990 per year, out-of-state), and California Institute of the Arts ($43,400 per year, out-of-state), according to rankings published by the Hollywood Reporter and Hack College in 2016.

In Los Angeles, the most popular media jobs are Media Planners, Reporters, Social Media Managers, Creative Directors, Marketing Assistants, PR Managers, and Communications Executives.

According to Glassdoor, some of the highest-rated media companies in Los Angeles include Turner Broadcasting, NBC, Associated Press, ABC Network, and Cond Nast.

The following are estimates of salaries and wages for media jobs in Los Angeles, which were compiled from Salary.com, Glassdoor, and the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Managing Editors - $100,000 per year, or $48.08 per hour

Publications Generalist Managers - $108,000 per year, or $51.92 per hour

Top Communications Executives - $232,000 per year, or $111.54 per hour

Media Design Managers - $103,000 per year, or $49.52 per hour

Creative Managers - $91,000 per year, or $43.75 per hour

Reporter II - $43,000 per year, or $20.67 per hour

Creative Directors - $124,000 per year, or $59.62 per hour

Reporter I - $37,000 per year, or $17.79 per hour

Reporter III - $54,000 per year, or $25.96 per hour

Senior Videographers - $66,000 per year, or $31.73 per hour

Media Product Development Managers - 89,000 per year, or $42.79 per hour

Production Assistants - $32,000 per year, or $15.38 per hour

Media Production Managers - $84,000 per year, or $40.38 per hour

Media Buyers - $67,000 per year, or $32.21 per hour

Broadcast Technicians - $50,000 per year, or $24.04 per hour

Media Planners - $56,000 per year, or $26.92 per hour

Media Relations Managers - $99,000 per year, or $47.60 per hour

Media Operations Managers - $84,000 per year, or $40.38 per hour

Media Program Directors - $74,000 per year, or $35.58 per hour

Media Production Directors - $153,000 per year, or $73.56 per hour

Professionals working in media in Los Angeles also tend to work in the following industries, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Blog or Vlog Production, Scripted Television, Marketing, Technology, Advertising, Scripted Film, Design.