Creative Labour

Co-authored by media scholar David Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Baker, this Routledge monograph examines what it actually feels like to work in television, music, and journalism — the tension between creative autonomy and commercial pressure, the pull toward self-exploitation, and the question of what counts as genuinely good work. The original interview research gives it empirical weight that theoretical-only texts lack, and it fills a real gap in media labor scholarship. Peer-reviewed journals including Media, Culture and Society praised its ethical rigor. The honest caveat is that this is a dense academic text, not a self-help title — general readers expecting practical career advice will be disappointed. Approach it as a serious scholarly work and it rewards.