Introduction

In the second half of 2017, work and careers in the creative media industries attracted a lot of media attention. The revelations about Harvey Weinstein's misconduct towards women workers initiated a broader discussion about sexual harassment and misogynist industry culture (e.g. Dean, 2017). In the UK, the lack of workforce diversity also continues to attract general attention, with film and TV celebrities like Idris Elba, David Oyelowo, and Julie Walters speaking out about the underrepresentation of women, disabled workers, and workers from ethnic minority and working-class backgrounds. Cracks have started to appear in the image of media work as desirable or glamorous. This image had, for two decades, dominated on screen – think Sex and the City, Bridget Jones’ Diaries – as well as in policy documents heralding the media industries as employing a ‘creative class’ of diverse workers and driving economic prosperity for all (Florida, 2004).

Researchers of work and employment in the creative media industries have studied the ambiguous reality behind the glossy, attractive image of media work for a while. This chapter brings together key arguments and evidence from that research to discuss media work, diversity, and opportunity. In doing so, this chapter mainly draws on evidence from the UK's creative media industries. This selection is deliberate. The UK has been a policy leader in promoting the creative industries and has thus attracted early attention of critical scholars of media work as well. Its creative media industries, i.e. TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging, and publishing, employ up to 80 per cent of workers in the creative industries as defined by the UK government (DCMS, 2001; Creative Skillset, 2010), generate two thirds of the creative industries’ revenue, and often feature as ‘target’ industries for policymakers.